LIBRARY 

OF  TJIK 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


OF" 


Mrs.  SARAH  P.  WALS  WORTH. 

Received  October  ,  1894. 
•Accessions  No.          /1""    Clj^s  No. 


B.  WAISWORTH,  ALBION,  N 


» 

*o 


PREMILLENNIAL  ESSA 


PROPHETIC  CONFERENCE, 


^y^A. 
V* 


HELD    IN   THE 


CHURCH  OF  THE  HOLY  TRINITY,  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


APPENDIX  OF  CRITICAL  TESTIMONIES. 


NATHANIEL  WEST. 
I! 


Nat  lpxop.a.1  rax'v.     A/j.qv,  ' 


F.  H.  EEVELL,  148  AND  150 

Publisher  of  Evangelical  Literature, 
1879. 


Entered  according  to  act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1879,  by 

F.  H.  REVELL, 
In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


B.  WAiS  WORTH,  ALBUM 


COUSTTEISTTS. 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTION,  5 

CALL  FOR  THE  CONFERENCE, 11 

POEM, 15 

ESSAYS. 

I. 
OPENING  ADDRESS.    By  the  Rev.  Stephen  H.  Tyng,  Sr.,  D.D.,      •        17 

II. 

CHRIST'S  COMING  :  PERSONAL  AND  VISIBLE.  By  the  Rev.  Stephen 
H.  Tyng,  Jr.,  D.D.,  Rector  Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  New 

York, .--./•  ...        22 

III. 

CHRIST'S  COMING  :  Is  IT  PRE-MILLENNIAL.     By  the  Rev.  S.  H. 

Kellogg,  D.D.,  Presbyterian  Seminary,  Allegheny,  Pa.,         -        47 

IV. 
THE  FIRST  RESURRECTION.    By  the  Rev.  A.  J.  Gordon,  Clarendon 

Street  Baptist  Church,  -Boston,  Mass., 78 

V. 
THE  REGENERATION.     By  the  Rev.  C.  K.  Imbrie,  D.D.,  Jersey 

City, 108 

VI. 
THE  KINGDOM  AND  THE  CHURCH.     By  Professor  H.  Lummis, 

Methodist,  Monson,  Mass., 174 

VII. 

THE  PRESENT  AGE  AND  DEVELOPMENT  OF  ANTICHRIST.  By 
the  Rev.  Henry  M.  Parsons,  Pastor  Lafayette  Street  Presby- 
terian Church,  Buffalo,  N.  T.,  -  204 

VIII. 
THE  GATHERING  OF  ISRAEL.    By  Bishop  W.  R.  Nicholson,  of  the 

Reformed  Episcopal  Church,  Philadelphia,     ....      222 

IX. 

THE  JUDGMENT,  OR  JUDGMENTS.    By  the  Rev.  J.  T.  Cooper,  D.D., 

United  Presbyterian  Semina.y,  Allegheny,  Pa.,     -       •        •      241 

3 


CONTENTS. 


X.  PAGE 

THE  COMING  OP  THE  LORD  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  CHRISTIAN  DOC- 
TRINE. By  the  Rev.  James  H.  Brookes,  D.D.,  Pastor  Walnut 
Street  Presbyterian  Church,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  -  -  -  270 

XL 
HISTORY  OF  THE   PRE-MILLENNIAL    DOCTRINE.     By   the  Rev. 

Nathaniel  West,  D.D.,  Presbyterian,  Cincinnati,  Ohio,         -      313 

XII. 

A  SUMMARY  OP  THE  ARGUMENT  IN  DEFENCE  OP  PRE-MILLEN- 
ARIANISM.  By  the  Rev.  John  T.  Duffield,  D.D.,  Professor 
of  Mathematics  in  Princeton  College, 405 

XIII. 

HOPE  OP  CHRIST'S  COMING  AS  A  MOTIVE  TO  HOLY  LIVING  AND 
ACTIVE  LABOR.  By  the  Rev.  Rufus  W.  Clark,  D.D.,  Reformed 
Dutch  Church,  Albany,  N.  T., 429 

ADDRESSES. 

I. 
THE  RETURN  OF  CHRIST  AND  FOREIGN  MISSIONS.     By  Dr. 

W.  P.  Mackay,  of  Hull,  England, 456 

II. 

THE  COMING  OP  THE  LORD  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  CHRISTIAN  DOC- 
TRINE. By  the  Rev.  E.  R.  Craven,  D.D.,  Pastor  Third 
Presbyterian  Church,  Newark,  N.  J., 462 

III. 
THE  THREE  DAYS'  FEAST  WITH  DAVID'S  SON.     By  Dr.  W.  P. 

Mackay,  of  Hull,  England, 470 

CRITICAL  APPENDIX. 

EXTRACTS   FROM 

The  Berlerberg  Bibel  —  Richter's  ErklSrte  Haus  Bibel  —  Starke's  Synopsis,  N  cue's 
Testament— Theurer'a  Das  Reich  Gottes— Stockmayer-Das  Oelblatt— Pfleiderer's 
Der  Paulinismus  —  EbrarcTs  Chrietliche  Dogmatik  —  Schenkel's  Christliche  Dog- 
matik  — Van  Oosterzee's  Christian  Dogmatics  —  Chris>tlieb's  Modern  Doubt  and 
Christian  Belief  —  Dorner's  Person  of  Christ— Luthardt's  Lehre  yon  der  Letzen 
Dingen  —  Lange's  Bremen  Lecture  —  Auberlen's  Der  Prophet  Daniel  —  Kliefpth's 
Offenbarung  Johannis  —  Rothe's  Dogmatik  — Roos'  Interpretation  of  Daniel - 
Schmid's  Biblical  Theology  — Koch's  Das  Tausendjahrige  Reich  — Steffann's  Das 
Ende—Mo-es  Stuart  on  the  Apocalypse  — Alford  OB  the  Apocalypse—  Winthrop's 
Premium  Essay— Jamieson's,  Faueett's  and  Brown's  Critical  Commentary  — The 
Parousia,  Neander,  Lechler,  Gloag,  Olshausen,  Meyer,  Baumgarten,  Hackett,  Da 
Costa,  on  Acts  3: 19-21— Rev.  George  Dtiffleld,  D.D.,  Dissertations  on  the  Proph- 
ecies—Rev. R.  J.  Breckenridge,  D.D..  Knowledge  of  God  Subjectively  Considered 
— DQsterdieck's  Offenbarung  Johannis. 


IlSTTIlODUCTIOlSr. 


AN  anti-chilastic  writer  of  great  ability,  in  a  volume  of  560  pages,  just 
issued  from  the  London  press,  thus  speaks :  "  No  attentive  reader  of 
the  New  Testament  can  fail  to  be  struck  with  the  prominence  given  by 
the  evangelists  and  apostles  to  the  PAROUSIA,  or  '  Coming  of  the  Lord.' 
That  event  is  the  great  theme  of  New  Testament  Prophecy.  There  is 
scarcely  a  single  book,  from  the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew  to  the  Apoc- 
alypse of  St.  John,  in  which  it  is  not  set  forth  as  the  glorious  promise 
of  God,  and  the  Blessed  Hope  of  the  Church.  It  was  frequently  and 
solemnly  predicted  by  our  Lord ;  it  was  incessantly  kept  before  the  eyes 
of  the  early  Christians  by  the  Apostles ;  and  it  was  firmly  believed  and 
eagerly  expected  by  the  churches  of  the  primitive  age.  It  can  not  be 
denied  that  there  is  a  remarkable  difference  between  the  attitude  of  the 
first  Christians,  in  relation  to  the  Parousia,  and  that  of  Christians  now. 
That  glorious  hope,  to  which  all  eyes  and  hearts  in  the  apostolic  age 
were  eagerly  turned,  has  almost  disappeared  from  the  view  of  modern 
believers.  "Whatever  may  be  the  theoretical  opinions,  expressed  in 
symbols  and  creeds,  it  must,  in  candor,  be  admitted  that  the  *  Second 
Coming  of  Christ '  has  all  but  ceased  to  be  a  living  and  practical  belief." 
— Parousia.  Preface,  1,  2.  The  solution  by  the  writer  is  praeteristic, 
holding  that  the  Second  Coming  occurred  at  the  Destruction  of  Jerusa- 
lem, A.D.  70. 

Another  praeteristic  and  anti-chiliastic  writer,  of  still  greater  ability, 
in  the  Anglican  Church,  and,  like  the  former,  abandoning  the  "Whitby- 
ian  theory,  shows  us  to  what  lengths  Praeterism  is  driven.  Closing  his 
comment  on  the  Millennium,  which  he  discards,  and  having  shown,  as 
he  thinks,  the  "Unreality  of  the  Second  Advent,"  he  thus  speaks  of  the 
Apocalypse :  "  A  book  which  deals  in  theological  invective  of  a  bitter 
kind ;  which  displays  Jewish  predilection,  in  an  exclusive  and  unamia- 
ble  light;  which  represents  Jesus  as  a  tyrannical  and  sanguinary  Mes- 
siah, and  the  Almighty  Himself  as  a  vindictive  and  avenging  Deity; 
which  abounds  in  monstrous  prodigies,  and  revels  in  incredible  phenom- 
ena; which  founds  the  millennial  kingdom  upon  the  defeat  of  the 
armies  of  Antichrist,  and  which  connects  the  Coming  of  Christ  at  the 
end  of  the  world  with  the  calamity  which  came  upon  Jerusalem  and 


6  INTRODUCTION. 


the  Destruction  of  Pagan  Rome  —  whatever  its  claim  to  apostolic 
authorship  or  canonical  position  —  can  neither  be  valuable  as  a  predic- 
tion, nor  be  regarded  as  a  safe  guide  for  the  performance  of  the  duties 
of  this  life,  nor  for  the  attainment  of  that  which  is  to  come." — Desprez. 
Daniel  and  John,  317. 

Equally,  with  these  two  writers,  abandoning  the  Whitbyian  pre-advent 
Millennium,  which  rests  upon  the  violation  of  grammatical  exegesis, 
yet  with  a  nobler  purpose,  and  returning  to  the  evangelical  ground  of 
the  primitive  Church  and  the  Reformation,  Canon  Ryle,  with  marvelous 
simplicity  and  power,  has  given  to  the  Church  his  expression  of  the 
true  faith,  in  the  following  Pre-Millennian  Creed,  which  he  holds  to  be 
what  the  Scriptures  require : 

1.  "  I  believe  that  the  world  will  neVer  be  completely  converted  to 
Christianity,  by  any  existing  agency,  before  the  end  comes.    In  spite 
of  all  that  can  be  done  by  ministers,  members,  and  churches,  the  wheat 
and  the  tares  will  grow  together  until  the  Harvest ;  and  when  the  end 
comes,  it  will  find  the  earth  in  much  the  same  state  that  it  was  when 
the  flood  came  in  the  days  of  Noah.    Matt.  13  :  24,  30;  24  :  37,  39. 

2.  "  I  believe  that  the  wide-spread  unbelief,  indifference,  formalism, 
and  wickedness,  which  are  to  be  seen  throughout  Christendom,  are  only 
what  we  are  taught  to  expect  in  God's  word.    Troublous  times,  depart- 
ures from  the  faith,  evil  men  waxing  worse  and  worse,  love  waxing 
cold,  are  things  distinctly  predicted.    So  far  from  making  me  doubt 
the  truth  of  Christianity,  they  help  to  confirm  my  faith.    Melancholy 
and  sorrowful  as  the  sight  is,  if  I  did  not  see  it  I  should  think  the  Bible 
was  not  true.    Matt.  24  :  12;  1  Tim.  3  :  1,  4,  13. 

3.  "  I  believe  that  the  grand  purpose  of  the  present»dispensation  is  to 
gather  out  of  the  world  an  elect  people,  and  not  to  convert  all  mankind. 
It  does  not  surprise  me  at  all  to  hear  that  the  heathen  are  not  all  con- 
verted when  missionaries  preach,  and  that  believers  are  but  a  little 
flock  in  any  congregation  in  my  own  land.    It  is  precisely  the  state  of 
things  I  expect  to  find.    The  Gospel  is  to  be  preached  '  as  a  witness,' 
and  then  shall  the  end  come.    This  is  the  dispensation  of  election,  and 
not  of  universal  conversion.    Acts  15  :  14;  Matt.  24  :  13. 

4.  "  I  believe  that  the  Second  Coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
Great  Event  which  will  wind  up  the  present  dispensation,  and  for 
which  we  ought  daily  to  long  and  pray.    4  Thy  Kingdom  come,'  '  Come, 
Lord  Jesus,'  should  be  our  daily  prayer.    We  look  backward,  if  we 
have  faith,  to  Christ  dying  on  the  Cross,  and  we  ought  to  look  forward, 
no  less,  if  we  have  hope,  to  Christ  coming  again.    John  14  :  3;  2  Tim. 
4  :8;  2  Peter  3  :  12. 

5.  u  I  believe  that  the  Second  Coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  will 


INTRODUCTION. 


be  a  real,  literal,  personal,  bodily  coming;  that  as  He  went  away  in  the 
clouds  of  heaven  with  His  body,  before  the  eyes  of  man,  so,  in  like 
manner,  will  He  return.  Acts  1:11;  Rev.  1  :  7. 

6.  "  I  believe  that,  after  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  comes  again,  the  earth 
will  be  renewed,  and  the  curse  removed ;  the  devil  shall  be  bound,  the 
godly  shall  be  rewarded,  the  wicked  shall  be  punished ;  and  that,  before 
He  comes,  there  shall  be  neither  resurrection,  judgment,  nor  Millen- 
nium; and  that  not  till  after  He  comes  shall  the  earth  be  filled  with  the 
knowledge  of  the  glory  of   the  Lord.    Acts  3  :21;  Isa.  25  :  6,  9;  1 
Thess.  4:  14,18;  Rev.  20  :  1. 

7.  "  I  believe  that  the  Jews  shall  be  ultimately  gathered  again,  as  a 
separate  nation,  restored  to  their  own  land,  and  converted  to  the  faith  of 
Christ.    Jer.  30  :  10,  11 ;  31  :  10;  Rom.  11  :  25,  26. 

8.  "  I  believe  that  the  literal  sense  of  the  Old  Testament  Prophecies 
has  been  far  too  much  neglected  by  the  churches,  and  is  far  too  much 
neglected  in  the  present  day,  and  that,  under  the  mistaken  system  of 
spiritualizing  and  accommodating  Bible  language,  Christians  have  too 
often  completely  missed  its  meaning.    Luke  24  :  25,  26. 

9.  "  I  believe  that  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  is  the  Great  Predicted 
Apostasy  from  the  faith  and  is  Babylon,  and  the  Pope  Antichrist  — 
although  I  think  it  highly  probable  that  a  more  complete  development 
of  Antichrist  will  yet  be  exhibited  to  the  world.     2  Thess.  2  :  3, 11 ;  1 
Tim.  4  :  1,  6;  (Rev.  13  :  1,  8). 

"  I  believe,  finally,  that  it  is  for  the  safety,  happiness,  and  comfort,  of 
all  true  Christians  to  expect  as  little  as  possible  from  churches,  or  gov- 
ernments, under  the  present  dispensation,  to  hold  themselves  ready  for 
tremendous  conversions  and  changes  of  all  things  established,  and  to 
expect  their  good  things  only  from  Christ's  Second  Advent." — Coming 
Events  and  Present  Duties.  Preface. 

The  Essays,  in  the  present  volume,  the  fruit  of  the  Prophetic  Con- 
ference, held  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  New  York  City, 
October  30,  31,  and  November  1, 1878,  are  given  to  the  church  and  the 
world  as  a  testimony  in  behalf  of  the  same  great  and  solemn  truths  repre- 
sented in  the  creed  just  quoted.  For  the  views  expressed  in  these  pro- 
ductions their  authors  are  severally  responsible.  Owing  to  the  extended 
character  and  importance  of  these  papers,  only  part  of  which,  in  some 
cases,  were  read,  but  upon  whose  entire  publication  the  Committee  hav- 
ing them  in  charge  decided,  as  also  to  diminish  the  size  of  the  present 
volume,  most  of  the  "Addresses"  are  reserved  with  the  consent  of 
the  speakers.  They  are  found  in  the  New  York  Tribune  Extra,  No.  46, 
two  editions  of  which,  reaching  50,000,  have  already  been  issued. 

The  Resolutions  passed  by  the  Conference  the  evening  of  its  closing 


8  INTRODUCTION. 


session,  express  in  brief  the  views  of  the  large  body  of  ministers  who 
participated  in,  or  were  present  to  sympathize  with,  its  proceedings, 
and  are  as  follows : 

Before  closing  this  Conference,  composed  of  brethren  from  so  many 
different  branches  of  the  one  Redeemed  Church  of  our  Lord,  we  desire 
to  return  devout  thanks  to  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ,  who  is  our  Hope,  for  the  presence  of  his  Holy  Spirit  and 
the  fellowship  in  Christ  experienced  during  our  sessions,  so  that  we  have 
been  as  in  heavenly  peace  in  Christ  Jesus. 

We  desire,  also,  disclaiming  whatever  doctrines  have  been  or  may  be 
held  in  connection  with  the  belief  of  the  Pre-Millennial  coming  of  the 
Lord,  which  conflict  with  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,  and 
received  by  the  Church  Universal  along  the  ages,  to  bear  our  united  tes- 
timony to  that  which  we  believe  to  be  the  truth  of  the  Gospel,  in  the  par- 
ticulars which  follow,  viz. : 

I.  We  affirm  our  belief  in  the  supreme  and  absolute  authority  of  the 
written  Word  of  God  on  all  questions  of  doctrine  and  duty. 

II.  The  prophetic  words  of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  concerning 
the  first  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  were  literally  fulfilled  in  His 
birth,  life,   death,  resurrection  and  ascension;  and  so  the  prophetic 
words  of  both  the  Old  and  the  New  Testaments  concerning  His  second 
coming  will  be  literally  fulfilled  in  His  visible  bodily  return  to  this 
earth  in  like  manner  as  He  went  up  into  Heaven ;  and  this  glorious 
Epiphany  of  the  great  God,  oar  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  is  the  blessed  hope 
of  the  believer  and  of  the  Church  during  this  entire  dispensation. 

III.  This  second  coming  of  the  Lord  Jesus  is  everywhere  in  the 
Scriptures  represented  as  imminent,  and  may  occur  at  any  moment ;  yet 
the  precise  day  and  hour  thereof  is  unknown  to  man,  and  known  only  to 
God. 

IV.  The  Scriptures  nowhere  teach  that  the  whole  world  will  be  con- 
verted to  God,  and  that  there  will  be  a  reign  of  universal  righteousness 
and  peace  before  the  return  of  our  blessed  Lord,  but  that  only  at  and  by 
His  coming  in  power  and  glory  will  the  prophecies  concerning  the 
progress  of  evil  and  the  development  of  Antichrist,  the  times  of  the  Gen- 
tiles, and  the  ingathering  of  Israel,  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  in 
Christ,  and  the  transfiguration  of  His  living  saints,  receive  their  fulfill- 
ment, and  the  period  of  millennial  blessedness  in  its  inauguration. 

V.  The  duty  of  the  Church  during  the  absence  of  the  Bridegroom  is 
to  watch  and  pray,  to  work  and  wait,  to  go  into  all  the  world  and 
preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature,  and  thus  hasten  the  coming  of  the 
day  of  God;  and  to  His  last  promise,  "Surely  I  come  quickly,"  to- 
respond,  in  joyous  hope,  "  Even  so;  come  Lord  Jesus." 


INTRODUCTION.  9 


The  following  resolution  was  passed  not  only  unanimously  by  the 
conference,  but  by  the  vast  audience  voluntarily  rising  en  masse  to  its 
feet — a  magnificent  spectacle  not  soon  to  be  forgotten:  " Resolved,  That 
the  doctrine  of  our  Lord's  pre-millennial  advent,  instead  of  paralyzing 
evangelistic  and  missionary  effort,  is  one  of  the  mightiest  incentives  to 
earnestness  in  preaching  the  Gospel  to  every  creature,  until  He  comes." 

I  desire  to  express  my  acknowledgments  to  my  beloved  brethren, 
Rev.  Dr.  Nast,  once  a  class-mate  with  Strauss,  but  now  long  a  faithful 
servant  of  Christ,  for  his  kindness  in  furnishing  me  with  Starke's  Synop- 
sis, and  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Krebhiel,  both  of  Cincinnati,  with  both  of 
whom  precious  hours  have  been  had  in  discussing  Romans,  Chapters 
VII.  and  VIII. ;  and  also  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Tyng,  Jr.,  of  New  York,  Dr. 
Gordon,  of  Boston,  and  Dr.  Brookes,  of  St.  Louis,  for  their  encourage- 
ment during  the  editorial  supervision  of  this  work. 

Battling,  Suffering,  Trusting,  Praying,  Hoping,  Working,  Watching, 
Waiting,  "till  He  come,"  this  volume  is  sent  forth  on  its  mission,  with 
the  supplication  that  God's  blessing  may  attend  it. 

NATHANIEL  WEST. 
Cincinnati,  0.,  Feb.  28, 1879. 


CALL,   FOB   THE    COSTFERE]STCE. 


DEAR  BRETHREN  IN  CHRIST  :  When  from  any  cause  some  vital  doc- 
trine of  God's  Word  has  fallen  into  neglect  or  suffered  contradiction 
and  reproach,  it  becomes  the  serious  duty  of  those  who  hold  it,  not  only 
strongly  and  constantly  to  re-affirm  it,  but  to  seek  by  all  means  in  their 
power  to  bring  back  the  Lord's  people  to  its  apprehension  and  accept- 
ance. The  precious  doctrine  of  Christ's  second  personal  appearing  has, 
we  are  constrained  to  believe,  long  lain  under  such  neglect  and  misap- 
prehension. 

In  the  Word  of  God  we  find  it  holding  a  most  conspicuous  place.  It 
is  there  strongly  and  constantly  emphasized  as  a  personal  and  imminent 
event,  the  great  object  of  the  Church's  hope,  the  powerful  motive  to 
holy  living  and  watchful  service,  the  inspiring  ground  of  confidence 
amid  the  sorrows  and  sins  of  the  present  evil  world,  and  the  event  that 
is  to  end  the  reign  of  Death,  cast  down  Satan  from  his  throne,  and 
establish  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth.  So  vital,  indeed,  is  this  truth 
represented  to  be  that  the  denial  of  it  is  pointed  out  as  one  of  the  con- 
spicuous signs  of  the  apostacy  of  the  last  days. 

Now,  while  casting  no  word  of  reproach  upon  those  who  may  differ 
from  us,  we  can  not  be  insensible  to  the  fact  that  there  has  been  a  sad 
decline  in  our  times  from  the  clear,  vivid,  ardent  faith  of  the  early 
church  in  regard  to  this  doctrine.  Very  many  Christians  have  been 
taught  to  think  of  the  coming  of  Christ  as  equivalent  to  their  own 
death ;  others  regard  it  as  synonymous  with  the  gradual  diffusion  of 
Christianity.  Many,  satisfied  with  this  present  world,  have  little  desire 
for  the  return  of  the  absent  Lord ;  while  here  and  there  are  those  who 
boldly  speak  of  such  an  event  as  only  a  "  fascinating  dream,"  destined 
never  to  be  realized.  But  while  we  lament  all  this,  and  can  but  regard 
it  as  an  alarming  symptom  of  the  present  state  of  religion,  it  is  an  occa- 
sion for  the  profoundest  gratitude  that  there  has  within  the  last  few 
years  been  such  a  powerful  and  wide-spread  revival  of  this  ancient 
faith.  Looking  over  the  Church  of  God  in  all  its  branches,  and  listen- 
ing to  the  clear  and  decisive  testimony  to  this  truth  that  is  coming  up  in 
such  volume  from  teachers  and  pastors,  expositors  and  lay  workers 
evangelists  and  missionaries,  it  can  but  appear  to  us,  that  after  the  long 

11 


12  CALL  FOR  THE  CONFERENCE. 

sleep  of  the  Church,  the  wise  are  at  last  rising  up,  and  trimming  their 
lamps,  in  preparation  for  the  coming  of  the  Bridegroom. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  it  has  seemed  desirable  that  those  who  hold  to 
the  personal  pre-Millennial  advent  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  who  are  "  looking 
for  tbat  blessed  hope,"  should  meet  together  in  conference,  as  our 
honored  brethren  in  England  have  recently  done,  to  set  forth  in  clear 
terms  the  grounds  of  their  hope,  to  give  mutual  encouragement  in  the 
rnaintainance  of  what  they  believe  to  be  a  most  vital  truth  for  the  present 
times,  and  in  response  to  our  Lord's  "  Behold,  I  come  quickly,"  to  voice 
the  answer  by  their  prayers  and  hymns  and  testimony,  "  Even  so,  comCj 
Lord  Jesus." 

We,  the  undersigned,  therefore  cordially  invite  you  to  meet  with  us  at 
the  Church  of  Holy  Trinity,  Madison  Avenue  and  Forty-second  Street 
(the  Rev.  S.  H.  Tyng,  Jr.,  Rector),  in  the  City  of  New  York,  on  the  30th 
and  31st  of  October  and  1st  of  November,  1878,  to  listen  to  a  series  of 
carefully  prepared  papers  on  the  pre-Millennial  advent  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  and  connected  truths,  and  to  participate  in  such  discussions  as 
the  topics  may  suggest. 

JAMES  H.  BROOKS,       A.  J.  GORDON, 

S.  H.  TYNG,  JR.,  MAURICE  BALDWIN, 

W.  R.  NICHOLSON,        H.  M.  PARSONS, 

W.  Y.   MOOREHEAD,       RUFUS  W.    CLARKE, 

Committee. 

The  following-named  Bishops,  Professors,  Ministers  and  Brethren, 
unite  in  indorsing  the  calling  of  the  conference : 

T.  H.  Vail,  Bishop  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  Topeka,  Kansas. 

Geo.  C.  Lorinier,  Pastor  Tremont  Temple,  Boston,  Mass. 

S.  H.  Tyng,  Rector  Emeritus  St.  George's  Episcopal  Church,  N.  Y. 

S.  H.  Kellogg,  Prof,  of  Theology,  Alleghany  Presbyterian  Seminary. 

J.  T.  Cooper,  Prof,  of  Theology,  Alleghany  United  Seminary. 

Jos.  A.  Seiss,  Pastor  Lutheran  Church,  Philadelphia. 

Jos.  Wild,  Pastor  Union  Congregational  Church,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

C.  K.  Imbrie,  Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Jersey  City,  N.  J. 

J.  Parker,  Pastor  South  Second  Street  M.  E.  Church,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

L.  W.  Bancroft,  Rector  Christ  Church,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

E.  T.  Perkins,  Rector  St.  Paul's  Episcopal  Church,  Louisville,  Ky. 

J.  D.  Herr,  Pastor  Central  Baptist  Church,  New  York  City. 

H.  M.  Saunders,  Pastor  Baptist  Church,  Yonkers,  N.  Y. 

C.  M.  Whittlesey,  Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Speucerport,  N.  Y. 

R.  C.  Matlack,  Secretary  Evangelical  Educational  Society,  Phil. 

J.  W.  Bonham,  Church  Evangelist,  New  York  City. 

George  R.  Kramer,  Wilmington,  Delaware. 

T.  W.  Hastings,  Rector  Holy  Trinity  Church,  Swanton,  Vt. 

J.  P.  Farrer,  Pastor  Baptist  Church,  Ludlow,  Vt. 

Alfred  Harris,  Pastor  Baptist  Church,  Westchestcr,  Penn. 

Joseph  Evans,  Pastor  Baptist  Church,  Goshen,  Penn. 


GALL  FOR  THE  CONFERENCE.  13 

L.  Osier,  Pastor  Advent  Church,  Providence,  R.  I. 
J.  M.  Orrock,  Editor  Messiah's  Herald,  Boston,  Mass. 
Myron  Adams,  Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 
L.  B.  Rogers,  Albion,  N.  Y. 

F.  W.  Flint,  Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Kingston,  Penn. 

R.  C.  Booth,  Rector  Episcopal  Church  of  Our  Saviour,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
H.  Dana  Ward,  Episcopal  Church,  Philadelphia. 
J.  E.  Grammer,  Rector  St.  Peter's  Episcopal  Church,  Baltimore,  Md. 
E.  P.  Adams,  Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Dunkirk. 

C.  M.  Morton,  Pastor  Chicago  Avenue  Independent  Church,  Chicago,  111. 
George  W.  Tew. 

Frank  M.  Rockwell,  Evangelist,  Chicago,  111. 

George  F.  Pentecost,  Evangelist,  Boston,  Mass. 

J.  M.  Stifler,  Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  Hamilton,  N.  Y. 

Richard  Norton,  Lockport,  N.  Y. 

Nathaniel  West,  Presbyterian  Church,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

Jesse  L.  Gilbert,  Pastor  Methodist  Church,  Newark,  N.  J. 

J.  P.  Sankey,  Pastor  United  Presbyterian  Church,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

J.  S.  Stewart,  Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Towanda,  Penn. 

Almond  Barrelle,  Baptist  Church,  Melrose,  Mass. 

J.  B.  Thompson,  Pastor  Dutch  Reformed  Church,  Catskill,  N.  Y. 

D.  E.  Bierce,  Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Racine,  Wis. 
C.  C.  Foote,  Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Detroit,  Mich. 

G.  R.  Milton,  Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Geneva,  111. 

E.  R.  Craven,  Pastor  Third  Presbyterian  Church,  Newark,  N.  J. 
L.  C.  Baker,  Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Camden,  N.  J. 

E.  P.  Goodwin,  Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Chicago. 

W.  J.  Gillespie,  Pastor  United  Presbyterian  Church,  New  York. 

W.  B.  Lee,  Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Portland,  Conn. 

R.  W.  French,  Pastor  United  Presbyterian  Church,  Peotone,  111. 

S.  B.  Reed,  Pastor  United  Presbyterian  Church,  Knoxville,  Tenn. 

Edwin  R.  Davis,  Presbyterian  Church,  Chicago,  111. 

G.  M.  Peters,  Pastor  Cedar  Street  Baptist  Church,  Buffalo. 

S.  R.  Wilson,  Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Louisville,  Ky. 

B.  Dubois  Wyckoff,  Presbyterian  Church,  Olyphant,  Penn. 

Abner  Kingman,  Congregational  Church,  Boston,  Mass. 

George  Hall,  Methodist  Church,  Clifton  Springs,  N.  Y. 

T.  W.  fJarvey,  Methodist  Church,  Chicago,  111. 

R.  F.  Sample,  Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

T.  W.  Bancroft,  Professor  Brown  University,  Providence,  R.  I. 

E.  P.  Marvin,  Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Lockport,  N.  Y. 

R.  A.  McAycal,  Pastor  United  Presbyterian  Church,  Oskaloosa,  Iowa. 
H.  P.  Welton,  Evangelist  Presbyterian  Church,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

F.  E.  Towel,  Pastor  Brighton  Avenue  Baptist  Church,  Boston,  Mass. 
Wm.  Reynolds,  Presbyterian  Church,  Peoria,  111. 

John  Wanamaker,  Presbyterian  Church,  Philadelphia. 

Jos.  E.  Jones,  Baptist  Church,  West  Chester,  Penn. 

H.  W.  Brown,  Evangelist  Baptist  Church,  Oconomowoc,  Wis. 

H.  N.  Burton,  Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Kalamazoo,  Mich. 

Henry  Foster,  Methodist  Church,  Clifton  Springs,  N.  Y. 

David JL  Wallace,  Pastor  United  Presbyterian  Church,  Wooster,  Ohio. 

W.  H.  Clarke,  Pastor  Dutch  Reformed  Church,  Palerson,  N.  J. 

R.  Patterson,  Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 


14  GALL  FOR  THE  CONFERENCE. 

J.  T.  Beckley,  Pastor  Baptist  Church,  Newburyport,  Mass. 

J.  J.  Miller,  Pastor  Baptist  Church,  Sonierville,  Mass. 

W.  J.  Erdinan,  Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Jamestown,  N.  Y. 

R.  C.  Matthews,  Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Monmouth,  111. 

W.  E.  Blackstone,  Methodist  Church,  Oak  Park,  111. 

J.  B.  Galloway,  Pastor  United  Presbyterian  Church,  Clarence,  Iowa. 

George  C.  Needham,  Evangelist,  Philadelphia. 

D.  W.  Whittle,  Evangelist,  Chicago. 

Edward  S.  White,  Baptist  Church,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

A.  Erdman,  Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Morristown,  N.  J. 
C.  Cunningham,  Pastor  Evangelical  Advent  Church,  Boston. 

B.  F.  Jacobs,  Baptist  Church,  Chicago. 

C.  Perren,  Pastor  Baptist  Church,  Chicago. 

F.  L.  Chappell,  Pastor  Baptist  Church,  Evanston,  111. 
J.  Romeyn  Berry,  Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Montclair,  N.  J. 
W.  R.  Gordon,  Pastor  Reformed  Church,  Schraalenberg,  N.  J. 
John  T.  Duffield,  Professor  Princetown  College. 
Robert  Cameron,  Pastor  Baptist  Church.  Brantford,  Ont. 
Samuel  J.  Andrews,  Hartford,  Conn. 

J.  S.  McCulloch,  Pastor  United  Presbyterian  Church,  Knoxville,  Tenn. 
H.  F.  Titus,  Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 
Wm.  V.  Feltwell,  Pastor  Reformed,  Episcopal  Church. 
H.  L.  Hastings,  Editor  Christian,  Boston,  Mass. 
W.  W.  Barr,  Pastor  United  Presbyterian  Church,  Philadelphia. 
R.  D.  Morris,  Presbyterian  Church,  President  Oxford  Female  College, 
Oxford,  Ohio. 

F.  W.  Dobbs,  Minister  St.  John's  Church,  Portsmouth,  Ont. 
M.  B.  Smith,  Reformed  Episcopal  Church,  Passaic,  N.  J. 
R.  Newton,  Rector  Church  of  the  Epiphany,  Philadelphia. 
H.  A.  Cordo,  Pastor  Baptist  Church,  Gloversville,  N.  Y. 
Geo.  M.  Stone,  Pastor  Baptist  Church,  Tarrytown,  N.  Y. 

G.  Hayser,  Pastor  United  Presbyterian  Church,  New  Salem,  111. 
W.  W.  Clarke,  Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Painesville,  Ohio. 
Samuel  Ashurst,  Presbyterian  Church,  Philadelphia. 

Francis  -Russell,  Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Mansfield,  Ohio. 
H.  M.  Bacon,  Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Toledo,  Ohio. 

D.  Mack,  Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Carthage,  111. 

David  R  Eddy,  Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Brockport,  N.  Y. " 
Wm.  P.  Paxon,  Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 
John  Pearson,  Advent  Church,  Newburyport,  Mass. 
Josiah  Litch,  Advent  Church,  Philadelphia. 


WATCHING. 


It  may  be  in  the  evening, 

When  the  work  of  the  clay  is  done, 
And  you  have  time  to  sit  in  the  twilight 

And  watch  the  sinking  sun, 
While  the  long  bright  day  dies  slowly 

Over  the  sea, 
And  the  hour  grows  quiet  and  holy 

With  thoughts  of  me ; 
Let  the  door  be  on  the  latch 

In  your  home, 

For  it  may  be  through  the  gloaming 
I  will  come. 

It  may  be  when  the  midnight 

Is  heavy  upon  the  land, 
And  the  black  waves  lying  humbly 

Along  the  sand ; 

When  the  moonless  night  draws  close, 
And  the  lights  are  out  in  the  house; 

When  the  fires  burn  low  and  red, 
And  the  watch  is  ticking  loudly 

Be&ide  the  bed ; 

Though  you  sleep,  tired  out,  on  your  couch, 
Still  your  heart  must  wake  and  watch 

In  the  dark  room, 
For  it  may  be  that  at  midnight 
I  will  come. 

It  may  be  at  the  cock-crow, 
When  the  night  is  dying  slowly 

In  the  sky, 

And  the  sea  looks  calm  and  holy, 
Waiting  for  the  dawn  of  the  golden  sun 

Which  draweth  nigh; 
In  the  chill  before  the  dawning, 
Between  the  night  and  morning 
I  may  come. 

15 


16  WATCHING. 


It  may  be  in  the  morning, 

When  the  sun  is  bright  and  strong, 
And  the  dew  is  glittering  sharply 

Over  the  little  lawn; 
With  the  long  day's  work  before  you, 

You  rise  up  with  the  sun, 
And  the  neighbors  come  in  to  talk  a  little, 

Of  all  that  must  be  done ; 
But  remember  that  I  may  be  the  next 

To  come  in  at  the  door, 
To  call  you  from  your  busy  work 

For  evermore; 

As  you  work  your  heart  must  watch, 
For  the  door  is  on  the  latch 

In  your  room, 

And  it  may  be  in  the  morning 
I  will  come. 

So  I  am  watching  quietly 

Every  day; 
Whenever  the  sun  shines  brightly 

I  rise  and  say — 

Surely  it  is  the  shining  of  His  face ! 
And  look  unto  the  gates  of  His  high  place, 

Beyond  the  sea, 
For  I  know  He  is  coming  shortly 

To  summon  me. 
And  when  a  shadow  falls  across  the  window 

Of  my  room, 

Where  I  am  working  my  appointed  task, 
I  lift  my  head  to  watch  the  door,  and  ask 

If  He  is  come ; 
And  the  angel  answers  sweetly, 

In  my  home — 
"  Only  a  few  more  shadows, 

And  lie  will  come." 


SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


ESSAYS. 


OPENING   ADDKESS. 

BY  THE  KEY.   STEPHEN  H.   TYNG,   SENIOR,  D.D. 

DEAR  BRETHREN: — In  the  name  of  our  common  Lord,  I 
salute  you  this  day.  We  have  met  in  the  name  of  this 
exalted  Eedeemer,  as  believers  in  His  divinity,  His  incar- 
nation, His  atoning  death,  His  resurrection  from  the  dead, 
His  abiding  intercession  for  those  for  whom  He  died,  His 
future  triumphant  return  to  earth  as  the  final  judge  of 
man,  the  glorified  ruler,  the  everlasting  portion  of  those 
whom  He  hath  redeemed  with  His  own  death,  clothed  with 
His  own  righteousness  and  justified  before  the  throne  of 
His  Father  and  their  Father,  of  His  God  and  their  God, 
in  the  perfectness  of  His  work  of  merit  and  by  the  glorious 
fullness  of  His  acknowledged  triumph  and  power. 

Our  personal  bond  of  union  is  our  participation  in  this 
excellence  and  these  attainments  of  man's  Eedeemer. 

Accepting  Him  in  all  His  offices,  in  this  relation,  we  par- 
take together  by  His  gift  in  all  the  blessings  which  He  hath 
obtained  by  His  willing  humiliation  and  His  triumphant 
sacrifice.  Our  security,  our  happiness,  our  fruitfulness, 
depend  wholly  upon  our  personal  union  with  Him.  We  are 
saved  not  merely  by  believing  facts  about  Him  or  truths 
which  He  has  taught,  but  by  our  living  participation  in 


18  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

Him  and  with  Him  through  the  power  of  the  Spirit.  He 
is  the  vine,  we  are  the  branches.  The  living  connection 
which  we  must  have  with  Him  He  has  thus  illustrated:  As 
the  branch  can  not  bear  fruit  if  severed  from  the  vine,  so- 
also  must  we  be  dead  and  helpless  if  separated  from 
Jesus.  Our  whole  spiritual  heavenly  life  depends  upon 
this  vital  connection  with  Him,  and  our  participation  in 
the  blessings  which  He  has  obtained  and  which  He  alone 
can  impart. 

Thus  He  presents  His  historic  future  to  His  disciples: 
"In  my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions;  I  go  to  pre- 
pare a  place  for  you,  and  I  will  come  again  and  receive 
you  unto  myself,  that  where  I  am  there  ye  may  be  also." 
This  future,  glorious  coming  of  Jesus  is  the  very  life  of 
the  hopes  and  the  inheritance  of  His  people. 

To  the  soul  that  really  loves  Him,  where  He  is,  is  heavenr 
"  and  prisons  would  palaces  prove  if  Jesus  would  dwell 
with  us  there." 

Our  relation  is  to  be  wholly  this  personal  one  with  Him, 
and  our  hope  is  always  in  the  assured  enjoyment  of  this. 
He  is  "  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life."  How  much  the 
Saviour  dwelt  upon  this  personal  relation  in  His  last  inter- 
view with  His  disciples!  and  how  little  some  portions  of 
modern  Christianity  seem  to  realize  it!  It  was  laid  at  the 
foundation  of  all  His  last  instructions  and  encourage- 
ments to  His  disciples. 

They  are  His  disciples  who,  by  the  teaching  and  power 
of  His  Spirit  dwelling  within  them,  live  and  walk  and  act 
in  Him,  by  His  power,  for  His  glory.  True  religion, 
under  this  dispensation,  is  this  living,  by  the  indwelling 
power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  unbroken,  personal  union 
with  this  glorious  Saviour.  Of  this  He  says:  "I  will  not 
leave  you  comfortless;  I  will  come  to  you."  "He  that 
loveth  me  shall  be  loved  of  my  Father,  and  I  will  love 


OPENING  ADDRESS.  19 

him,  and  will  manifest  myself  to  him."  This  living  of 
our  souls  in  Christ,  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
this  living  of  Christ  in  us,  by  the  same  power,  is  the 
reality  of  true  religion,  and  of  this  it  is  that  our  Lord  says: 
"I  will  not  leave  you  comfortless,  I  will  come  unto  you;" 
"Because  I  live  ye  shall  live  also;"  "At  that  day  ye  shall 
know  that  I  am  in  my  Father,  and  ye  in  me,  and  I  in 
you."  This  divine  scheme  of  spiritual  and  heavenly 
relationship  has  been  the  history  of  the  true  church  of 
Christ  through  all  the  succeeding  ages  of  the  Christian 
era.  Union  with  Christ,  living  in  Christ,  following 
Christ,  looking  forward  to  the  promised  coming  of  Christ 
and  to  an  everlasting  dwelling  with  Christ,  have  made  up 
the  character,  the  joy,  and  the  hope  of  true  believers  in 
every  age.  And  these  constitute  their  significant  descrip- 
tion with  equal  certainty  in  our  day.  The  lovers  of  a 
Saviour  are  looking  for  His  appearing,  longing  with  in- 
creasing desire  to  see  Him  as  He  is,  to  be  with  Him  where 
He  is.  And  thus  He  offers  for  them  all  the  earnest  sup- 
plication, "  For  all  who  shall  believe  on  Him  through  His 
word."  "That  they  all  may  be  one,  that  they  may  be 
with  Him,  where  He  is."  That  they  may  behold  His 
glory,  which  He  had  before  the  foundation  of  the  world. 

Thus  in  the  day  of  His  ascending  triumph  they  beheld 
His  glory  as  a  cloud  received  Him  or.t  of  their  sight;  and 
while  in  wonder  they  looked  steadfastly  toward  heaven  as 
He  ascended,  angelic  messengers  addressed  them,  "This 
same  Jesus,  who  is  taken  up  from  you  info  heaven,  shall  so 
come  in  like  manner  as  ye  have  seen  Him  go  into  heaven." 

In  the  belief  of  this  coming,  the  church  of  Jesus  has 
been  one  in  every  age.  In  the  thankful  anticipation  of 
this  new  manifestation  of  this  glorious  Saviour,  His  church 
on  earth  has  always  been  in  union,  believing  in  His  future 
advent,  looking  for  His  appearing,  striving  to  seek  the 


20  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

things  which  are  above,  that  when  Christ,  who  is  our  life, 
shall  appear,  we  may  also  appear  with  Him  in  glory.  In 
this  sure  confidence  in  the  reality  of  this  personal  advent 
of  the  Saviour  to  the  earth,  on  which  He  died,  in  the  cer- 
tainty of  the  confidence  that  the  time  of  His  glorious 
advent  draweth  near,  we  stand  and  wait.  Many  of  its 
preliminary  facts  have  been  accomplished.  Much  that 
was  necessarily  antecedent  in  the  history  and  condition  of 
man  has  already  passed,  and  every  passing  year  brings 
this  great  fact  in  this  history  of  earth  still  nearer  and 
diminishes  the  number  of  earthly  events  which  are  to  pre- 
cede its  manifestation.  Knowledge  and  interest  in  connec- 
tion with  this  great  event  on  earth  have  vastly  increased, 
and  increasing  multitudes  are  looking  for  the  Lord's  ap- 
pearing, with  enlarged  understanding,  with  new  convic- 
tions, with  constantly  brightening  hopes.  For  some  of 
us,  necessarily,  the  interval  of  hope  must  be  short. 

Our  earthly  period  of  education  has  come  near  to  its 
conclusion,  and  but  little  more  can  elapse  before  we  shall 
see  the  Lord  in  His  glory.  As  a  fact  in  our  personal 
history,  it  has  become  almost  in  sight.  But  some  of  us 
also  believe  that  as  a  fact  in  the  history  of  man,  involving 
consequences  of  immense  outspread  extent,  and  of  vast 
relative  influence  in  the  welfare  of  earth  and  in  the  eternal 
consequences  which  are  to  follow  individual  experience, 
this  great  manifestation  standeth  at  the  door,  and  while 
many  sleep  the  Son  of  Man  will  come.  In  this  solemn 
conviction  we  have  assembled  here,  bringing  together  our 
several  impressions,  convictions  and  studies,  that  we  may 
individually  contribute  to  the  general  fund  of  knowledge, 
of  observation,  and  of  conviction,  in  reference  to  this  great 
event  in  the  history  of  earth — The  coming  of  man's 
Redeemer  to  assume  the  government  which  He  hath  pur- 
chased with  His  death,  to  restore  the  earth  to  His  own 


OPENING  ADDRESS.  21 

dominion,  and  to  gather  into  one  redeemed  fold  the  flock 
which  has  strayed  upon  all  mountains,  and  has  been  scat- 
tered, wandering  through  all  the  moves  of  human  igno- 
rance, waywardness,  and  moral  and  intellectual  degrada- 
tion. And  I  close,  with  the  expression  of  an  earnest  hope 
that  infinite  grace,  almighty  power,  and  everlasting  love 
may  bless  the  earth  on  which  we  dwell,  the  land  which  we 
inhabit,  the  nation  of  which  we  are  part,  and  the  whole 
race,  for  which  the  Son  of  God  was  content  to  die.  The 
Spirit  of  God  has  been  ready  to  teach,  and  the  faithfulness 
of  God  has  covenanted  a  future  restoration  and  opened 
the  hope  of  everlasting  glory. 


SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


CHRIST'S  COMING:    PERSONAL    AND  VISIBLE. 

BY  THE  REV.  S.  H.  TYNQ,   JR.,   D.D.,  RECTOR  OP  THE    CHURCH   OF    THE 
HOLY  TRINITY,  NEW  YORK. 


open  our  defense  of  the  doctrine  of  the  personal  and 
visible  return  of  our  Lord  with  the  presumptive  proof  of 
its  primitive  authority.  Whether  justified  by  the  language 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  or  a  delusion  of  man's  enthusiasm, 
there  will  be  no  dispute  that  the  earliest  writings  of  the 
Christian  Fathers  recognized  it  as  the  current  opinion  of 
the  post-Apostolic  Church.  The  ancient  creeds  have 
crystallized  it  in  confession.  The  oldest  liturgies  express  it 
in  devotion.  The  history  of  heroic  achievements  by 
martyrs  and  confessors  claims  it  as  of  the  highest  and  most 
imperative  motive.  Until  the  learned  Origen,  in  the  third 
century,  introduced  his  method  of  allegory  into  exegesis 
there  is  no  evidence  of  a  dissent  from  the  traditional 
expectation.  Nor  was  his  system  sufficiently  influential 
to  resist  the  consensus  of  the  church  in  the  Nicene  and 
Constantinopolitan  councils,  which  affirmed:  "He  shall 
come  again  with  glory  to  judge  both  the  quick  and  the 
dead,  whose  kingdom  shall  have  no  end."  The  historian 
Gibbon  is  our  authority  that  "the  ancient  Christians  were 
animated  by  a  contempt  for  their  present  existence  and  by 
a  just  confidence  of  immortality,  of  which  the  .doubtful 
and  imperfect  faith  of  modern  ages  can  not  give  us  any 
adequate  notion.  In  the  primitive  church,  the  influence 
of  truth  was  very  powerfully  strengthened  by  an  opinion 
which,  however  it  ma}7  deserve  respect  for  its  usefulness 
and  antiquity,  has  not  been  found  agreeable  to  experience. 
It  was  universally  believed  that  the  end  of  the  world  and 


CHRISTS  COMING  :   PERSONAL  AND  VISIBLE.       23 

the  kingdom  of  heaven  (by  which  they  meant  Christ's 
reign  on  earth)  were  at  hand."  In  the  theological  and 
moral  darkness  of  the  Middle  Ages  there  were  not  lacking 
earnest  souls  who  maintained  and  voiced  this  truth,  which 
traced  its  paternity  to  Apostolic  teachers.  But  our  assump- 
tion is  still  further  strengthened  by  the  fact,  which  authentic 
history  warrants,  that  the  formulae  of  faith  and  the  private 
testimonies  of  the  fathers  of  the  Protestant  Reformation 
give  this  doctrine  a  foremost  rank.  It  was  primitive  in 
the  English,  the  Scotch,  the  Lutheran,  the  Congregational, 
the  Baptist,  the  Moravian,  and  all  other  Christian  bodies, 
which  have  passed  through  the  fires  of  persecution.  The 
burden  of  proof  really  rests  with  those  who  deny  our  hope. 
The  probability  in  favor  of  those,  who  affirm  it,  is  equal  to 
the  accumulated  force  of  the  argument  that  the  men  so 
marvelously  raised  up  and  qualified  for  the  planting,  and 
the  reformation  of  the  church,  could  not  have  been  mis- 
taken in  the  tradition  of  the  single  century,  that  had 
elapsed  since  the  death  of  St.  John,  nor  misled  in  their 
diligent,  delving  study  of  the  Bible,  as  compared  with  the 
comments  ol  ancient  authors.  If  the  assertion  and  rejection 
of  this  doctrine  stand  on  equal  ground  before  Scriptures^ 
which  do  not  undoubtedly  determine  the  question  at  issue, 
yet  is  the  preponderance  of  probability  a  deciding  factor  in 
th'e  discussion. 

Waiving  this  preliminary  presumption,  we  pass  to  the 
consideration  of  three  propositions,  which  are  the  common 
ground  on  which  this  Conference  meets,  and  will  be 
assumed  in  the  discussion  of  all  succeeding  topics.  Both 
for  our  present  purpose,  and  for  an  intelligent  reception  of 
all  after-instruction,  it  is  of  the  first  importance  that  these 
principles  should  be  plainly  stated  and  sustained. 

1.  The  authority  of  Holy  Scripture  is  the  basis  of  all 
knowledge  that  the  Lord  Jesus  will  in  any  wise  return  to 


24  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

this  earth.  To  His  life  in  the  flesh  there  are  a  few  allusions 
in  classic  authors.  History  endorses  sufficiently  the  story 
of  the  Gospels.  The  philosophy  of  history  demands,  aa 
the  solution  of  the  problem  presented  by  organized  and 
social  Christianity,  the  fact  of  His  human  existence.  But 
no  other  voice  than  that  of  God  can  absolutely  foretell. 
His  hand  alone  can  draw  the  veil,  which  hides  the  things 
to  come.  Speculation  has  no  place  in  this  discussion. 
Philosophy  has  no  permission  to  deal  with  the  unrevealed 
future.  It  may  outline  the  possible  outcome  of  present 
tendencies,  but  catastrophes  in  all  ages  have  rebuked  its 
presumption.  Whether,  therefore,  probable  or  improbable 
to  the  reason  of  man,  the  certain  knowledge  of  a  fact  that 
is  to  be  depends  upon  the  sole  and  unsupported  Word  of 
God.  If  He  is  silent,  we  must  remain  in  ignorance.  When 
He  speaks,  every  doubt  dies.  At  the  foundation  of  our 
faith  is  a  reverent  recognition  of  the  Holy  Bible  as  a 
revelation  from  God.  Outside  of  its  lids  we  decline  to 
follow  our  disputants.  They  must  be  brought  to  this 
crucial  test  in  connection  with  the  promise  of  our  Lord's 
coming.  It  is  a  more  severe  criterion  than  that  presented 
by  miracles,  for  these  may  be  accepted  on  human  and 
contemporaneous  testimony.  But  predictions  depend  upon 
God's  declaration.  If  we  are  mistaken  in  our  Bible,  then 
our  doctrine  may  be  a  delusion.  If  these  sacred  books  be 
"received  not  as  the  word  of  man,  but,  as  they  are  in  truth r 
the  word  of  .God,"  then  is  our  confidence  rational. 

2.  The  language  of  Scripture  is  the  source  of  all 
information  concerning  both  the  matter  and  the  manner  of 
the  return  of  our  Lord.  Our  revelation  is  clothed  in  words, 
"  which  the  Holy  Ghost  teacheth."  It  contains  an  accurate, 
authentic  and  credible  account  of  events,  which  have  their 
place  in  the  world's  history.  To  this  is  added  a  series  of 
didactic  statements  of  truth,  adapted  to  different  difficulties 


CHRIST S  COMING  :   PERSONAL  AND  VISIBLE.       25 

and  doubts  in  the  current  life  of  those,  who  submit  to  their 
teaching.  Promise  and  precept  are  interwoven  in  the  web 
of  doctrine,  and  predictions  glisten  on  every  page,  illumi- 
nated by  glintings  of  glory  from  another  world.  But 
faith,  hope  and  obedience  turn  with  equal  curiosity  to  the 
very  words,  "  which  holy  men  of  God  spake  as  they  were 
moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  Whether  to  know  "  the  things 
freely  given  us  of  God"  in  our  Great  Substitute,  or  "  the 
things  which  God  hath  prepared  for  those  who  love  Him," 
our  search  is  purely  exegetical.  We  approach,  without 
partiality  or  prejudice,  to  learn  from  words,  which  express 
His  thoughts,  what  the  Lord  God  will  say  concerning  us. 
This  postulate  implies  the  rejection  of  all  authoritative 
interpretations  in  the  assumed  teaching  office  of  any  church. 
Every  such  claim  must  be  tested  by  the  word  itself.  Still 
more  does  it  deny  all  supplementary  visions  or  revelations, 
as  either  complements  or  expositions  of  our  present  Bible. 
The  closing  verses  of  Revelation  are  a  solemn  charge 
neither  to  add  to  nor  take  away  from  the  words  of  the 
prophecy  of  this  book.  Whether  they  apply  to  the  dog- 
matic portions  of  the  whole  New  Testament  or  not,  it  i& 
clear  that  they  do  imperatively  bind  us  in  our  reception  of 
prophetic  truth.  They  are  God's  seal  upon  that  symbolical 
book,  which  by  all  students  is  admitted  to  be  the  chart  of 
the  future.  Whatever  be  our  hope,  it  must  draw  its  reasons 
from  the  written  word. 

3.  The  laws  of  language  are  the  instruments  by  which 
we  are  to  construe  the  written  words  of  God.  But  for  the 
mystical,  spiritualizing  school  of  expositors,  we  should 
have  no  need  to  do  more  than  state  this  proposition.  It 
would  seem  to  be  involved  in  the  popular  character  of  our 
Bible.  Not  in  cipher,  hieroglyphic,  or  cabalistic  signs,  but 
in  the  language  and  dialect  of  living  men,  with  which 
grammar,  rhetoric,  and  logic  can  closely  deal,  has  God  made 


26  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

known  his  purposes  to  us.  There  is  no  esoteric  sense 
between  the  lines  and  beneath  the  letter.  Spiritual  dis- 
cernment is  the  knowledge  by  experience,  and  does  not 
imply  a  superior  intellectualism.  Even  the  symbolic  books 
have  their  glossary  in  other  and  plainer  Scriptures.  Similes, 
metaphors,  and  parables  indeed  abound,  but  these  are  all 
subject  to  the  rules  of  interpretation,  which  control  in 
secular  literature.  We  affirm,  then,  the  law  of  Bishop 
Newton,  that  a  literal  rendering  is  always  to  be  given  in 
the  reading  of  Scripture,  unless  the  context  makes  it 
absurd.  To  vindicate  this  law  from  all  cavil  and  establish 
the  proposition  which  it  expresses,  one  need  only  appeal  to 
the  common  sense  of  any  casual  stranger  to  scholastic 
theology.  Is  it  honest  to  argue  with  infidels  on  the  basis 
of  the  literal  fulfillment  of  prophecies  relating  to  our  Lord's 
first  coming,  and  allegorize  the  predictions  connected  with 
these  in  chapter,  verse,  and  often  clause,  because  they  refer 
to  His  second  appearing?  What  reason  have  we  for  holding, 
in  opposition  to  the  Jew,  that  it  was  foretold  where  Christ 
should  be  born,  where  He  should  begin  to  preach,  how  He 
should  enter  Jerusalem,  what  varied  sufferings  He  should 
endure,  that  He  should  hang  upon  the  tree,  that  not  a  bone 
of  His  body  should  be  broken,  that  His  garments  should 
be  parted  and  His  vesture  be  transferred  by  lot,  that  with 
transgressors  He  should  die,  and  yet  with  the  rich  make 
His  grave — what  possible  basis  have  we  for  asserting  the 
historical  fulfillment  of  all  these  prophecies,  which  the  Jews 
spiritualize,  if  we,  in  our  turn,  spiritualize  the  plain  and 
closely  joined  predictions  of  the  glorious  Messiah,  which 
they  interpret  literally?  Surely,  as  a  key  tied  by  a  string 
close  to  the  lock,  are  the  scriptural  interpretations  of 
fulfilled  prophecy.  With  these  at  hand,  it  is  not  difficult 
for  the  serious  student  to  open  the  secret  things  of  God. 
But  to  this  consideration  may  be  added,  in  our  appeal  to 


CHRIST 8  COMING :  PERSONAL  AND  VISIBLE.       27 

the  common  fairness  of  the  church  and  world,  the  fact  that, 
in  every  controversy  with  professed  Christians,  whose 
creed  we  hold  to  be  defective,  we  insist  upon  a  literal  inter- 
pretation of  Scripture.  What  Trinitarian  would  suffer  a 
Soeinian  to  spiritualize  the  declarations  of  our  Lord's 
supremacy  and  sovereignty?  The  whole  controversy  with 
Universalism  pivots  on  this  principle.  Unless  the  word 
of  God  means  what  it  says,  the  denier  of  future  punishment 
may  have  the  right.  And  on  what  conception  of  candor 
do  men  stand;  who  are  strenuous  for  the  principle  of  literal 
interpretation  when  it  suits  their  theological  system,  and 
severe  in  its  denunciation  when  they  can  not  suborn  the 
testimony  in  favor  of  their  own  dogma?  Indeed,  let  this 
spiritualizing  method  be  enforced,  and  all  positive  lines  of 
division  between  truth  and  error  are  instantly  obliterated. 
The  Socinian,  Calvinist,  Arminian,  Swedenborgian,  and 
every  other  school  of  theological  thought,  will  spiritualize 
in  opposite  ways  to  suit  their  several  schemes.  On  this 
principle  any  book  may  be  turned  into  a  Bible.  A  recent 
reviewer  has  well  written:  "Truly  quite  enough  of  this 
sort  of  exegetical  violence  has  been  done  to  the  New 
Testament.  It  is  time  that  it  should  cease,  and  that  a 
little  more  of  the  respect  usually  paid  to  authors  called 
*  profane '  should  be  rendered  to  books,  which  the  mass  of 
the  Christian  world  is  so  well  agreed  to  accept  as  '  sacred,' 
or  as  the  very  *  word  of  God.'  In  other  words,  it  is  surely 
time  that  the  language  of  these  ancient  books  should  be 
used  in  its  own  sense — the  sense  which  it  is  manifestly 
intended  to  convey — and  that  modern  expositors  should 
cease  their  well-meant  efforts  to  compel  it  into  agreement 
with  the  ecclesiastical  systems  and  theological  creeds,  which 
flourish  so  variously  around  us,  from  the  so-called  infalli- 
bility of  Rome  down,  through  many  gradations,  to  that  of 
an  American  revivalist."  The  German  Rationalists,  in 


28  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

their  efforts  to  naturalize  the  history,  are  not  so  untrue  to 
revelation  as  those  in  the  church,  who  spiritualize  the 
prophecy  of  the  Bible. 

These  three  propositions  we  affirm  and  assume  as  a 
Conference:  The  authority  of  Holy  Scripture  is  the  basis 
of  all  knowledge  that  the  Lord  Jesus  will  in  anywise  return 
to  this  earth;  the  language  ol  Holy  Scripture  is  the  source 
of  all  information  concerning  both  the  matter  and  manner 
of  the  return  of  our  Lord;  the  laws  of  language  are  the 
instruments  by  which  we  are  to  construe  the  words  of  God, 
to  ascertain  the  character  and  circumstances  of  His 
appearing.  If  either  one  of  these  can  be  disproved,  our 
doctrine  must  fall  into  doubt.  But  whenever  it  is  in 
question,  the  admission  of  these  principles  will  instantly 
take  it  out  of  all  question. 

I.  It  is  evident  to  the  superficial  student  of  the  Bible 
that  very  frequent  reference  is  made  by  all  the  sacred 
writers  to  "  the  coming  of  the  Lord."  A  careful  compu- 
tation has  shown  that  one  verse  in  every  twenty-five,  or 
about  three  hundred  verses  of  the  New  Testament,  speak 
of  this  future  event.  So  constant  is  the  allusion  to  that, 
which  is  to  be,  at  "  the  coming,"  "  the  appearing,"  "  the 
revelation "  of  the  Lord,  that  all  expositors  must  needs 
have  some  theory  of  interpretation,  which  will  harmonize 
and  explain  these  passages.  The  topic  of  this  paper  gives 
the  ke}r-note  of  the  creed  of  our  Conference.  Whatever 
else  we  may  hold  as  true  in  reference  to  the  translation  of* 
the  church,  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  in  Christ,  the 
coming  of  the  Lord  with  His  saints,  and  the  establishment 
of  the  millennial  kingdom,  this  assertion  of  the  personal 
and  visible  manner  of  His  return  is  fundamental  to  all. 
Every  detail  of  literally  interpreted  prophecy  pre-supposes 
His  presence  in  His  glorified  humanity,  made  perceptible 
to  the  sense  of  sight.  And,  indeed,  in  this  definition  of 


CHRISTS  COMING  :    PERSONAL  AND   VISIBLE.       29 

the  doctrine  we  have  no  controversy  with  post-millenarians. 
Their  champion,  Dr.  David  Brown,  is  as  explicit  as  any 
pre-millenarian  in  his  affirmation  of  the  ocular  manifesta- 
tion of  Christ  at  the  last  day.  Whatever  may  be  our 
differences  among  ourselves,  or  with  those  who  postpone 
our  Lord's  appearing  until  the  world's  conversion,  and 
a  thousand  years  after  that  consummation,  we  are  here 
banded  in  the  defence  of  a  common  truth.  But  we  have 
a  strangely  commingled  multitude  of  antagonists.  They 
have  no  coherence  except  their  consenting  denial  of  our 
doctrine.  For  the  negative  argument  of  our  present 
discussion,  we  group  them  in  five  classes,  and  seek  to  show 
that  neither  one  nor  all  satisfy  or  exhaust  the  testimonies, 
that  they  quote  in  support  of  their  varying  dogmas.  It  is 
held  by  some  that — 

1.  The  coming  of  the  Holy  Ghost  on  the  day  of  Pen- 
tecost is  the  sufficient  fulfillment  of  our  Lord's  promise. 
Ten  days  after  the  ascension  of  Jesus  the  Holy  Ghost  came 
to  the  church.  The  manner  of  His  appearing,  the  mode 
of  His  operation,  the  ministry  of  His  presence,  all  combine 
to  mark  Him  as  "  another  Comforter.1'  The  condition  of 
His  gift  by  the  Father  was  the  departure  of  the  Christ. 
He  was  to  be  the  Yicar  of  Christ  on  the  earth  and  in  the 
church.  As  such  He  has  controlled  in  this  dispensation 
of  grace.  His  office- work,  as  defined  by  Jesus,  has  been 
ever  fulfilled.  It  was  promised:  ""When  He  is  come,  He 
will  reprove  the  world  of  sin,  and  of  righteousness,  and  of 
judgment."  "He  shall  glorify  me:  for  He  shall  receive  of 
mine  and  shall  show  it  unto  you."  "  And  He  will  show 
you  things  to  come."  Surely  these  passages  on  their  very 
face  demand  that  a  distinction  of  some  sort  be  drawn  be- 
tween the  Spirit  and  the  Son,  and  at  the  same  time  indi- 
cate their  relative  offices  in  the  development  of  the  divine 
purpose.  The  entire  ministry  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  sup- 


30  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST 

plementary  to  the  redemption,  and  preparatory  to  the 
reign,  of  Christ.  How  then  can  they  be  confounded  in 
their  comings?  But  what  warrant  is  given  in  Scripture 
for  this  strange  view?  The  only  text  ever  quoted  in  its 
support  is  a  sufficient  answer  to  the  theory.  Our  Lord 
said,  "  If  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for  you,  I  will  come 
again  and  receive  you  unto  myself."  But  the  time  and 
style  of  reception  is  contained  in  the  succeeding  clause,. 
"  that  where  I  am,  there  ye  may  be  also."  Is  it  not  too 
plain  even  for  comment  that  the  coming  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  did  not  and  could  not  accomplish  this  last  result? 
It  will  not  do  to  evade  this  answer  by  urging  men  to  look 
for  "  larger  outpourings  "  of  the  Spirit,  for  the  Holy  Ghost 
as  a  person  has  come.  In  His  descent  were  the  prophe- 
cies of  the  Old  Testament  as  literally  fulfilled  as  in  the 
birth  of  Jesus.  A  more  reliant  recognition  of  His  pres- 
ence and  power  will  doubtless  result  in  a  deeper  realiza- 
tion of  His  grace  and  comfort.  But  this  is  not  another 
coming.  He  is -here  and  will  remain  until  the  end  of  the 
age.  One  of  the  serious  charges  we  have  to  present 
against  this  school  of  spiritualizing  expositors  is  that  they 
diminish  the  dignity  of  the  dispensation  of  the  Holy 
Gh'ost.  In  seeking  to  avoid  the  doctrine  of  the  personal 
coming  of  our  Lord,  they  do  despite  unto  the  Third  Per- 
son of  the  Blessed  Trinity,  who  is  the  Spirit  of  Grace. 

2.  Again,  there  are  expositors,  who  hold  that  the  catas- 
trophe of  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  A.D.  TO,  and  the  entrance 
of  Titus  the  Eoman,  are  the  facts  to  which  certain 
predictions  of  the  coming  of  the  Lord  referred.  This 
can  only  be  affirmed  in  connection  with  the  twenty-fourth 
chapter  of  St.  Matthew  and  the  parallel  passages  in  St. 
Mark's  and  St.  Luke's  gospels.  Epistles  written  to  Gen- 
tile churches  and  the  Kevelation  to  St.  John  on  Patmos 
can  not  be  supposed  to  take  cognizance  of  this  local  event. 


CHRISTS  COMING :   PERSONAL  AND  VISIBLE.       31 

If  the  chronology  of  the  books,  written  at  least  twenty 
years  after  Titus'  coming,  did  not  determine  their  refer- 
ence to  somewhat  subsequent  to  the  fall  of  the  Holy  City, 
surely  their  scope  of  argument  would  negative  such  a  nar- 
row construction.  We  are  limited,  therefore,  to  the  exam- 
ination of  a  solitary  passage  as  the  locus  classicus  of  this 
second  view.  Our  Lord  was  seated  on  the  Mount  of  Olives 
with  four  of  His  disciples.  He  had  pronounced  the 
prophecy  of  Jerusalem's  overthrow:  "  See  ye  not  all  these 
things  [the  buildings  of  the  temple]?  Verily  I  say  unto 
you,  There  shall  not  be  left  here  one  stone  upon  another 
that  shall  not  be  thrown  down."  The  disciples  privately 
asked  Him  three  questions,  which  had  most  naturally 
been  suggested  by  His  words,  saying  (Matt.  24:8):  "Tell 
us,  when  shall  these  things  be?  and  what  shall  be  the  sign 
of  thy  coming,  and  of  the  end  of  the  age?"  Each  of 
these  queries  was  answered  by  Him  in  its  logical  order. 
A  few  sentences  sufficed  to  sketch  the  outline  of  all  events 
between  His  ascension  and  His  corning  again.  And  then 
He  added  the  words  found  in  Matt.  24:30:  "And  then 
shall  appear  the  sign  of  the  Son  of  man  in  heaven : 
and  then  shall  all  the  tribes  of  the  earth  mourn,  and 
they  shall  see  the  Son  of  man  coming  in  the  clouds 
of  heaven  :  with  power  and  great  glory.  And  he  shall 
send  His  angels  with  a  great  sound  of  a  trumpet :  and 
they  shall  gather  His  elect  from  the  four  winds."  It 
is  scarcely  conceivable  that  the  Lord  would  represent  the 
leader  of  the  Roman  army,  clothed  with  such  a  form  as 
this.  But  the  manifest  reference  in  the  words  to  the 
prophecy  of  Daniel  increases  this  improbability.  Be- 
sides, at  the  coming  of  Titus  it  is  not  true  that  all  the 
tribes  of  earth  did  mourn.  To  put  such  a  false  exaggera- 
tion in  the  mouth  of  Jesus  is  to  reduce  Him  from  the 
rank  of  a  prophet  to  the  ravings  of  an  enthusiast.  And 


32  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

by  what  subtle  exegesis  can  the  scattering  of  the  Chris- 
tians, and  their  escape  to  little  Pella  in  the  mountains,  be 
made  the  correspondent  fact  to  the  promised  gathering  of 
the  elect?  When  not  only  contradictory  words  but  irre- 
concilable events  become  identical  these  expositors  may  be 
trusted.  The  misinterpretation,  which  we  now  contro- 
vert, is  made  impossible  by  the  remembrance  that,  only 
two  days  after  these  words  were  used  on  the  Mount  of 
Olives,  they  were  repeated  by  Jesus  in  the  High  Priest's 
palace.  In  Matt.  26:  64  we  read:  "Jesus  saith  unto  him, 
Thou  hast  said:  nevertheless  I  say  unto  you,  Hereafter 
shall  ye  see  the  Son  of  man  sitting  on  the  right  hand  of 
power,  and  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven."  The  point 
at  issue  was  His  Messiahship.  His  claim  to  stand  in  this 
relation  was  the  cause  of  the  wrath  of  the  Sanhedrim. 
And  now,  with  prophetic  words  and  an  emphasis  incapa- 
ble of  misapprehension,  He  foretells  His  future  manifest- 
ation in  glory.  Did  He  speak  of  Titus  to  the  High 
Priest?  If  not,  by  what  principle  of  interpretation  can  the 
same  words,  uttered  forty-eight  hours  before  His  arraign- 
ment, be  tortured  into  such  a  reference?  That  the  Jews 
well  understood  His  meaning  is  made  evident  by  the 
action  of  the  High  Priest.  He  "  rent  his  clothes,  saying, 
He  hath  spoken  blasphemy;  what  further  need  have  we  of 
witnesses?  behold,  now  ye  have  heard  his  blasphemy." 
Many  witnesses  had  before  been  called,  but  their  testi- 
mony did  not  agree.  Thus  far  the  evidence  was  too  con- 
flicting to  warrant  a  judgment.  But  as  soon  as  Jesus 
spake  of  His  "coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,"  the  case 
was  closed.  He  was  found  guilty  of  blasphemy,  and  con- 
demned to  death  because  He  foretold  His  second  coming. 
3.  A  third  theory,  that  we  antagonize,  resolves  many 
passages  of  the  Epistles  into  what  is  styled  a  spiritual  com- 
ing and  presence.  The  supporters  of  this  most  mystical 


CHRISTS  COMING  :    PERSONAL  AND  VISIBLE.       33 

interpretation  make  much  of  His  title,  as  "  the  Coming 
One,"  and  speak  of  Him  as  ever  holding  this  relation  to 
the  church.  But  do  they  forget  that  the  Coming  One 
u came  unto  His  own  and  His  own  received  Him  not?" 
that  when  the  Baptist  sent  messengers  to  ask,  u  Art  thou 
the  Coming  One,  or  do  we  look  for  another?"  Jesus  an- 
swered by  directing  attention  to  the  correspondence  be- 
tween His  miracles  and  the  marvels  predicted  by  Isaiah, 
and  that  it  was  in  this  character  that  the  multitudes  wel- 
comed Him,  crying,  "Blessed  is  the  Coming  One  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  ? "  It  casts  a  strange  shadow  on  His 
earthly  life  to  ignore  the  fulfillment  of  this  title  in  His 
days  of  obedience  and  suffering.  The  Coming  One  was 
materialized.  With  a  form  like  unto  ours  He  passed  into 
the  heavens.  Surely  now  His  promise  that  He  will  come 
again  can  not  imply  an  annihilation  of  that  perfected  man- 
hood. He  must  return  in  His  Glorified  Body,  whether 
visible  or  invisible  to  us,  unless  His  humanity  be  a  myth. 
But  how  can  these  Scriptures  of  the  Apostles  refer  to  a 
spiritual  coming,  whatever  that  may  mean,  in  the  face  of 
the  Lord's  own  assurances :  u  Where  two  or  three  are  gath- 
ered together  in  My  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of 
them."  "Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of 
the  age  ? "  Spiritually  the  Son  of  God  has  never  been, 
and  can  never  be  absent  from  the  world  or  the  church. 
The  omnipresence  of  God  is  through  the  redemption  a 
part  of  our  heritage.  u  The  Lord  of  Hosts  is  with  us,  the 
God  of  Jacob  is  our  refuge."  And  in  a  peculiar  manner 
does  the  Holy  Ghost  make  real  to  the  believer  the  Christ 
of  the  past  on  Golgotha,  in  the  Garden  of  the  Sepulchre, 
and  on  the  Mount  of  Ascension  as  a  present  Saviour.  But 
as  the  Mediatorial  Priest  and  King  it  is  distinctly  stated 
that  His  session  is  still  in  the  heavenly  places:  "  Whom 
the  heavens  must  receive  until  the  time  of  restitution  of 


34  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

all  things,  which  God  hath  spoken  by  the  mouth  of  all  His 
holy  prophets  since  the  world  began."  It  surely  is  mani- 
fest that  those  times  of  restoration  have  not  yet  dawned. 
There  must  be,  therefore,  something  in  store  for  the 
church  beyond  the  spiritual  influences  of  her  absent  Lord. 
4.  It  is  held  by  some  writers  that  the  progress  of  the 
gospel  and  the  church  is  the  concrete  fact,  in  which  the 
promises  of  our  Lord's  coming  combine.  There  is  a 
vagueness  about  this  view,  which  makes  it  most  difficult  to 
controvert.  If  definite  passages  were  quoted  in  its  sup- 
port, we  might  dispute  the  exegesis.  But  when  one  is 
referred  generally,  and  with  a  wave  of  the  hand,  to  all  the 
prophecies  and  promises,  it  argues  distrust  of  the  position 
in  those  who  affirm  it,  and  it  proposes  an  endless  task  to 
those  who  are  its  opponents.  Let  us  meet  general  asser- 
tions with  specific  suggestions.  In  only  one  text  of  the 
New  Testament  is  the  church  called  Christ.  St.  Paul 
wrote  to  the  Corinthians  (1  Cor.,  12:  13),  "  As  the  body  is 
one  and  hath  many  members,  and  all  the  members  of  that 
one  body,  being  many,  are  one  body,  so  also  is  Christ." 
"With  this  solitary  exception,  the  church  throughout  the 
epistles  is  represented  as  the  body,  of  which  Christ  is  the 
head.  Undoubtedly  the  text  quoted  is  in  the  line  of  this 
uniform  teaching,  but  the  language  identifies  the  body 
and  its  head  under  the  one  name  of  Christ.  For  the  most 
part,  by  the  apostle  the  body  is  represented  as  visible,  and 
the  head  as  invisible.  The  growth  is  upward  "  into  Him 
in  all  things,  which  is  the  Head,  even  Christ."  And  the 
Head  is  represented  as  "in  the  heavenly  places,  far  above 
all  principality  and  power  and  might  and  dominion,  and 
every  name  that  is  named,  not  only  in  this  age,  but  also  in 
that  which  is  to  come."  As  a  visible  fact,  the  church  is 
now  headless.  It  waits  for  His  coming,  who  shall  crown 
it  with  His  own  glorified  humanity.  From  a  single  par- 


CHRIST 8  COMING:   PERSONAL  AND  VISIBLE.       35 

ticular  do  they  attempt  to  generalize,  who  hold  this  fourth 
theory,  whilst  the  burden  of  passages  bearing  on  this  very 
illustration  is  contrary  to  them.  But  the  second  coming 
of  Christ  is  manifestly  somewhat  exterior  to  the  church 
itself.  The  law  of  obedience  given  to  the  church  is, 
"  Occupy  till  I  come."  The  symbols  of  sacramental  com- 
munion are  to  be  used  "  until  He  come."  The  attitude  of 
spiritual  desire  is  to  "wait  for  His  Son  from  heaven."  In 
the  midst  of  sloth  and  sin,  it  is  commanded  to  "watch,  for 
ye  know  not  what  hour  your  Lord  doth  come."  The  sub- 
stance of  its  supplication  and  song  is:  "Come,  Lord  Jesus, 
come  quickly."  The  coronation  of  the  church  is  an  event 
separate  from  its  struggle.  All  its  discouragements  are 
cheered  by  the  blessed  hope  of  His  appearing.  Thus, 
then,  there,  shall  the  church  be  glorified.  The  Bridegroom 
will  claim  the  Bride. 

5.  To  these  varying  interpretations  of  our  Lord's  com- 
ing must  be  added  one  more,  which  identifies  it  with  the 
death  of  believers.  This  definition  results  in  a  destructive 
dislocation  of  Scripture,  and  an  annihilation  of  all  true 
hope  in  the  Christian  life.  That  which  the  law  of  self- 
preservation  teaches  us  to  dread  can  not  be  the  substance 
of  our  Lord's  most  joyous  promise  or  of  the  church's  puri- 
fying hope.  The  saintly  Baxter  expressed  the  universal 
experience  of  the  church,  when  he  wrote:  "  Death  appear- 
eth  to  me  as  an  enemy,  and  my  nature  doth  abhor  and 
fear  it;  but  the  thoughts  of  the  coming  of  the  Lord  are 
most  sweet  and  precious.  Christ's  servants  can  submit  to 
death,  but  His  coming  they  love  and  long  for."  What  a 
perversion  is  it  to  reduce  all  the  glad  expectancy  of  His 
appearing,  who  "  will  change  our  bodies  of  humiliation 
that  they  may  be  fashioned  like  unto  His  own  glorious 
body,"  into  the  dull  thought  that  disease  may  at  some 
moment  seize  us,  and  death  assert  its  sovereignty  over  us! 


36  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

The  presumption  against  such  a  reading  of  promise  is  so 
strong  as  almost  to  discharge  us  from  argument.  But  to 
strengthen  our  defense,  let  us  remember  that  the  vocabu- 
lary of  the  Bible  always  classes  death  as  an  enemy.  From 
the  first  to  the  last  book  of  the  sacred  canon  this  is  its  uni- 
form representation.  Our  Lord  Jesus  is  said  to  have 
abolished  death,  but  its  physical  accidents  still  remain  in 
all  their  hideous  self-assertion.  The  sting  of  death  has 
been  extracted,  but  the  serpent  survives.  It  will  not  be 
until  His  coming  that  dead  bodies  shall  be  raised,  and  the 
battle-cry,  "O  death!  where  is  thy  sting?  O  grave!  where 
is  thy  victory?"  be  sung  without  a  challenge.  Then  the 
last  enemy,  even  death,  shall  have  been  destroyed.  In 
the  lack  of  a  single  passage,  which  plainly  associates 
death  with  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  how  dare  men, 
instructed  by  this  exceptionless  usage,  misread  God's 
word?  The  departing  believer  hastes  to  be  absent  from 
the  body  that  he  may  be  present  with  the  Lord — to  be 
with  Christ  in  Paradise — to  depart  and  be  with  Christ, 
which  is  far  better.  Time  would  fail  to  quote  a  tithe  of 
the  passages  which  present  Jesus  as  He  appeared  to  Ste- 
phen, waiting  for  His  saints,  and  the  dying  believer  as 
carried  by  angels  into  His  presence.  Never  is  there  a 
reversal  of  this  relation  in  the  language  of  God's  word. 
Moreover,  whenever  death  is  represented  in  imagery  the 
figure  is  the  contrast  of  the  person  of  Christ.  He  who 
rides  upon  the  pale  horse  can  not  be  the  same  as  He  who 
cometh  in  the  clouds  of  heaven.  Violence  is  done  to  every 
principle  of  personification  by  such  an  attempted  identity. 
Not  to  prolong  our  negative  argument,  we  have  only  to 
add  our  Lord's  own  discrimination  between  death  and 
His  own  second  coming,  as  a  final  answer  to  the  assump- 
tions of  this  theory.  When  Peter  over-curiously  demanded 
in  reference  to  John,  " Lord,  and  what  shall  this  man  do?" 


CHRIST S  COMING  :    PERSONAL  AND  VISIBLE.      37 

Jesus  saith  unto  him,  "If  I  will  that  he  tarry  till  I  come, 
what  is  that  to  thee?  Follow  thou  me.  Then  went  this 
saying  abroad  among  the  brethren,  that  this  disciple 
should  not  die."  They  were  beguiled  into  the  very  confu- 
sion of  thought,  which  we  have  been  controverting. 
"Yet  Jesus  said  not  unto  him,  He  shall  not  die;  but  if  I 
will  that  he  tarry  till  I  come,  what  is  that  to  thee?"  The 
Lord  leaves  no  doubt  about  the  difference  between  these 
two  future  facts.  It  is  only  an  exploded  tradition  to  con- 
nect them.  And  the  heat  of  controversialists,  who  make 
this  attempt,  is  far  less  pardonable  than  the  mistake  of  the 
disciples,  since  subsequent  to  this  interview  so  much 
instruction  in  reference  to  the  Lord's  coming  has  been 
given  by  the  apostles.  This  much  is  certain :  "  We  shall 
not  all  sleep  "  (in  death),  but  we  shall  all  be  summoned 
before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ.  There  will  be  at 
least  one  generation  to  whom  death  shall  not  be  the  com- 
ing of  the  Lord. 

These  five  theories  do  neither  satisfy  nor  exhaust  the 
teaching  of  the  Scriptures  in  reference  to  the  second  com- 
ing of  our  Lord.  Though  it  be  admitted  that,  analogically, 
the  facts,  which  they  relate,  may  be  anticipations  of  His 
appearing,  yet  there  is  somewhat  in  all  the  passages  quoted, 
which  refuses  to  be  cramped  and  confined  by  these  inter- 
pretations. It  may  be  that  these  incidents  stand  in  the 
foreground  of  the  unveiled  picture  of  the  future,  and  are 
foreshortened  into  a  practical  prominence,  but  there  is  a 
sublime  event  looming  up  in  the  background,  which  far 
transcends  them  in  significance  and  interest.  To  the  scrip- 
tural authority  of  this  reserved  revelation  of  our  Lord,  we 
have  a  remarkable  testimony  from  a  rationalistic  critic  in  a 
recent  number  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  Review.  Though 
regarding  the  Messianic  kingdom  as  "  unreal  and  untrue," 
he  frankly  admits  that  "the  men  of  the  first  Christian 


38  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

generation,  including  the  Apostles  and  the  writers  of  the 
New  Testament,  lived  in  the  almost  daily  expectation  of 
the  Lord  and  the  end  of  the  world. ;)  This  witness  of  Dr. 
Yance  Smith  is  valuable  as  that  of  one  coldly  unprejudiced 
in  his  examination  of  the  sacred  text,  and  avowedly  hostile 
to  this  truth.  That  it  is  justified  by  exact  exegesis,  it  is 
now  our  purpose  to  demonstrate  as  the  positive  argument 
of  this  paper.  We  hope  to  be  able  to  show  that  there  is  a 
very  numerous  class  of  passages,  which  can  not  by  any 
expository  skill  be  connected  with  one  or  all  of  the  professed 
fulfillments  already  disputed,  but  which  imperatively 
demand,  and  will  brook  no  denial  of,  the  personal,  in  the 
sense  of  visible,  coming  of  our  Lord.  To  these  we  turn 
with  undoubting  confidence. 

1.  The  nouns  substantive  used  to  signify  the  Advent  are 
first  in  this  line  of  proof.  They  are  incapable  of  other 
definition  than  a  real,  personal,  and  corporeal  as  opposed 
to  a  figurative,  spiritual,  and  incorporeal  coming  of  our 
Lord.  So  definite  is  the  usage  of  the  terms  that  we  may 
be  thus  explicit  in  our  statement.  The  first  of  these  words 
is  Apokalypsis.  It  occurs  in  nineteen  passages  of  the  ^STew 
Testament,  and  is  translated  in  our  version,  "revela- 
tion," "  manifestation,5'  "  appearing,"  "  coming,"  and  "  to 
lighten."  It  will  be  recognized  in  the  texts:  (1  Cor.  1  :  7), 
"  Waiting  for  the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ;"  (2  Thess. 
1  :  7), "  At  the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ  with  His  mighty 
angels;"  (1  Peter  1:7),  "At  the  appearing  of  Jesus 
Christ;"  (1  Peter  4 :  13),  "When  His  glory  shall  be 
revealed."  Whenever  used  in  reference  to  objects  or  per- 
sons, which  can  be  recognized  by  sight,  this  word  requires 
visibility  as  a  necessary  quality.  It  is  introduced  to  express 
the  discovery  of  spiritual  truth  to  the  mind,  but  never  for 
the  spiritual  discernment  of  Christ.  The  only  instance 
apparently  doubtful  is  Galatians  1  :  16,  "  To  reveal  His 


CHRIST 8  COMING :   PERSONAL  AND  VISIBLE.       39 

Son  in  (to)  me;"  but  the  three  recitals  of  his  conversion  in 
the  Book  of  Acts  assert  that  St.  Paul  heard  the  voice  and 
imply  that  he  saw  the  form  of  Christ.  Indeed,  it  was  this 
personal  revelation  to  him  it  was  which  gave  him  all  his 
rights  in  the  apostolate.  The  use  of  the  word  in  Matt. 
11  :  27,  ''Neither  knoweth  any  man  the  Father,  save  the 
Son,  and  He  to  whomsoever  the  Son  will  reveal  Him,"  is 
no  exception  to  our  rule,  since  the  person  of  the  Father 
is  ever  invisible  and  can  only  be  spiritually  perceived. 
Indeed,  it  is  only  necessary  to  recall  the  fact  that  the  last 
book  of  the  Bible  is  called  the  Apocalypse  to  establish  our 
rule  of  interpretation.  By  whatsoever  process  rendered 
perceptible,  it  is  evident  that  this  Revelation  to  St.  John 
was  objective,  for  he  distinctly,  in  the  preface  to  the  book, 
asserts  that  "he  saw"  the  things  which  he  is  about  to 
relate. 

The  second  noun  employed  in  this  same  connection  by 
the  sacred  writers  is  Epiphaneia.  Together  with  the  verb, 
from  which  it  is  derived,  it  is  found  in  ten  passages  of  the 
New  Testament.  The  lexicographer  Schleusner  gives  as 
its  classic  definition,  "  The  appearance  of  a  thing  corporal 
and  resplendent."  He  adds  that  "  it  was  particularly 
employed  by  the  Greeks  to  denote  the  appearance  of  their 
gods,  with  circumstances  of  external  splendor."  In  accord 
with  this  usage,  St.  Paul  introduces  the  word  (2  Tim.  1:10) 
to  describe  our  Lord's  incarnation  at  His  first  advent.  He 
speaks  of  the  grace  that  "  is  now  made  manifest  by  the 
epiphany  of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  who  hath  abolished 
death  and  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light  through 
the  gospel."  Again,  when  describing  Paul's  shipwreck, 
Luke  wrote  (Acts  27  :  20),  "  Neither  sun  nor  stars  in  many 
days  epiphanized."  Every  other  text  in  which  this  word 
is  met  has  reference  to  the  second  coming;  as,  for  example, 
(1  Tim.  6  :  M),  "  Keep  this  commandment  without  spot, 


40  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

unrebukable,  until  the  appearing  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ: 
which  in  His  time  He  shall  show,  who  is  the  blessed  and 
only  Potentate;"  (2  Tim.  4  :  1),  "The  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
who  shall  judge  the  quick  and  dead  at  His  appearing  and 
His  kingdom;"  (Titus  2  :  13),  "Looking  for  that  blessed 
hope,  and  the  glorious  appearance  of  our  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ,  who  gave  Himself  for  us."  The  unvarying  usage  of 
this  word  in  the  New  Testament  sustains  the  classical  defini- 
tion. The  context  of  every  passage  makes  any  other  an 
impossibility,  if  not  an  absurdity. 

The  third  and  last  word,  to  which  we  ask  attention  is 
Parousia.  It  will  be  found  in  twenty-four  texts  of  the  New 
Testament,  with  the  two  meanings  of  "  coming "  and 
"  presence."  Seventeen  of  these  passages  refer  to  the  com- 
ing of  our  Lord.  As  examples  we  quote  (Matt.  24  :  3): 
"  What  shall  be  the  sign  of  Thy  coming;"  (1  Cor.  15  :  23), 
"They  that  are  Christ's  at  His  coming;"  (1  Thess.  2:19), 
"Are  not  even  ye  at  the  coming  of  our  Lord;"  (James 
5  :  8),  "  The  coming  of  the  Lord  draweth  nigh."  Once  the 
word  is  used  in  connection  with  the  manifestation  of  the 
Man  of  Sin.  In  all  other  passages  it  is  employed  to 
describe  the  coming  of  individuals;  as  (1  Cor.  16  :  17), 
"  the  coming  of  Stephanas;"  (2  Cor.  7  :  6),  "  the  coming  of 
Titus;"  and  (Phil.  1  :  26),  the  "coming  "  of  Paul.  The  lit- 
eral rendering  of  this  term  is  u  the  becoming  present."  It 
marks  the  moment  when  absence  ceases,  and  presence 
begins.  It  excludes  all  idea  of  a  prolonged  period,  as  they 
who  seek  to  identify  the  coming  of  the  Lord  with  death 
vainly  fancy.  How  contrary  to  common  sense  is  such  a 
definition  will  instantly  appear  on  attempting  to  adjust  it 
to  the  prophecy,  (Matt.  24  :  27),  "  As  the  lightning  cometh 
out  of  the  east  and  shineth  even  unto  the  west;  so  shall 
also  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man  be."  There  is  nothing 
in  nature  so  instantaneous  as  this.  It  is  now,  and  in  the 


CHJRIST'S  COMING :  PERSONAL  AND  VISIBLE.      41 

twinkling  of  an  eye  it  is  gone.  So  shall  also  the  Parousia 
of  the  Son  of  Man  be.  The  word  is  equally  intolerant  of 
the  theory  of  a  spiritual  coming.  It  implies  personality, 
and  in  several  passages  suggests  physical  visibility.  If  the 
coming  of  the  Lord,  to  which  it  refers,  be  spiritual  or  figura- 
tive, so  must  also  the  coming  of  Stephanas,  Fortunatus, 
and  Achaicus,  who  certainly  brought  substantial  help  to 
the  Apostle  Paul,  and  must,  therefore,  have  been  more 
than  phantoms. 

These  three  words,  singly  and  in  combination,  bear  an 
exclusive  testimony  to  the  future  real  and  personal  coming 
of  the  Lord. 

2.  We  pass  from  them  to  consider  the  pronouns  and 
adverbs,  which  control  and  qualify  the  various  promises  of 
our  Lord's  appearing.  These  not  only  consent  to  the  inter- 
pretation, which  we  are  now  presenting,  but  greatly 
strengthen  its  proof.  To  attenuate  the  Second  Advent  into 
a  figurative  or  spiritual  fact  is  to  oppose  Scripture,  which 
seems,  in  its  very  texture,  to  have  been  arranged  for  just 
such  an  emergency  of  doubt.  Whilst  looking  up  into  the 
clouds,  which  had  shut  off  from  their  gaze  the  ascended 
Christ,  two  angelic  men  recalled  the  thoughts  of  the  dis- 
ciples to  earth,  and  with  words  of  promise  opened  to  them 
a  most  glorious  hope.  They  said,  "  This  same  Jesus  who 
is  taken  "up  from  you.  into  heaven,  shall  so  come  in  like 
manner  as  ye  have  seen  Him  go."  What  a  combination  of 
carefully  chosen  words  is  this  text !  It  is  a  mosaic  of 
promises.  In  opposition  to  all  allegorizers  and  spiritual- 
izers,  it  presents  "  this  same  Jesus" — not  His  influences, 
but  Himself.  In  contradiction  of  all  theories,  that  would 
degrade  His  coming  by  identifying  it  with  death,  the  pass- 
age presents  descent  after  translation  as  the  outline  of  His 
coming,  u  in  like  manner  as  ye  have  seen  Him  go."  On 
every  side  is  this  assurance  guarded  by  these  qualifying 


42  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

parts  of  speech.  It  is  impossible  to  wrest  such  a  Scripture 
from  its  natural  and  literal  rendering.  But  the  Apostle 
Paul  is  not  less  careful  in  his  collocation  of  words.  The 
change  of  living  saints  and  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  in 
Christ  are  works  of  omnipotence.  They  can  not  certainly 
be  separated  from  a  personal  act.  In  foretelling  them  as 
the  events  that  shall  especially  mark  His  coming,  the 
apostle  traces  them  to  our  Lord's  personal  presence  and 
power,  "because  the  Lord  Himself  shall  descend  from 
heaven."  Surely  this  pronoun  decides  the  issue.  Only 
one  other  illustration  shall  be  added  to  these,  though  they 
might  be  indefinitely  extended.  The  apostle  to  the 
Hebrews  (9  :  28)  contrasts  His  former  sin -bearing  with 
the  Lord's  future  glory:  "  Christ  was  once  offered  to  bear 
the  sins  of  many;  and  unto  them  that  look  for  Him  shall 
He  appear  the  second  time  without  sin  unto  salvation." 
There  is  a  plain  antithesis  between  "  once  "  and  "  second 
time."  The  resemblance  between  the  two  appearings  is 
asserted  to  be  personality.  The  difference  is  equally  defined 
by  their  contrasted  relation  to  sin  and  offering  for  sin. 
Even  the  smallest  particles  of  scriptural  language  protest 
against  the  perversions  of  our  doctrine, 

3.  But  to  these  sources  of  proof  we  add  the  offices  and 
actions,  which  are  connected  with  His  coming,  and  to  which 
the  Scriptures  command  our  reverence.  These  are  all 
intensely  personal,  both  in  their  conception  and  in  the 
mode  of  their  accomplishment.  Our  Lord  warned  His 
disciples  against  the  pretensions  of  anti-christs.  These 
impostors  were  clearly  to  be  persons.  Their  peculiar  dogma 
was  to  be  that  they  (2  John  7) "  confess  not  that  Jesus  Christ 
is  coining  in  the  flesh,"  and  the  substitution  of  themselves  in 
the  stead  of  Christ  as  the  object  of  hope.  If  His  competi- 
tors were  to  be  personal  and  visible,  surely  the  language  of 
warning  implies  more  than  a  spiritual  manifestation  on  our 


CHRIST 8  COMING:   PERSONAL  AND  VISIBLE.       43 

Lord's  part.  The  contrast  between  Christ  and  Anti-christ 
involves  the  personal  coming  of  the  Lord.  But  all  are 
agreed  that  the  judgment  of  the  saints  and  the  world  will 
be  a  chief  feature  in  the  Advent.  How  is  this  office 
presented  in  Scripture?  Will  the  law  of  the  survival  of 
the  fittest  produce  the  final  judgment,  irrespective  of  a 
glorious  Person?  Are  the  discriminating  influences 
the  Gospel  all  that  is  meant  by  this  phrase?  Are  the 
"judgment-seat  of  Christ  "  and  "  the  great  white  throne  " 
fictions  of  fancy,  which  have  no  corresponding  reality? 
These  glosses  of  philosophy,  and  spiritaalizers,  must  be 
brought  to  the  test  of  the  word  itself.  St.  Paul  taught  in 
skeptical  Athens  the  truth  in  words,  which  anticipate  all 
later  criticisms  (Acts  17:30,  31):  "God  hath  appointed  a 
day,  in  the  which  He  will  judge  the  world  by  that  man, 
whom  He  hath  ordained,  whereof  He  hath  given  assurance 
unto  all  men,  in  that  He  hath  raised  him  from  the  dead." 
If  "  that  man  "  is  a  personal  designation,  then  the  Judge 
will  be  a  person.  If  the  resurrection  of  Christ  was  visibly 
demonstrated,  equally  so  will  be  His  coming  again.  This 
is  a  demonstration  of  the  surface  of  the  passage.  Another 
character,  in  which  our  Lord  is  represented  in  the  day  of 
His  advent,  is  as  the  JRaiser  of  the  Dead.  This  office  He 
performed  in  His  life  of  substitution.  Again,  at  His 
death-cry  (Matt.  27:52),  "The  graves  were  opened;  and 
many  bodies  of  the  saints  which  slept,  arose,  and  came  out 
of  the  graves  after  His  resurrection,  and  went  into  the  holy 
city  and  appeared  unto  many."  Once  more  is  this  action 
traced  to  Him  (1  Thess.  4:16),  "For  the  Lord  Himself 
shall  descend  from  heaven  with  a  shout,  with  the  voice  of 
the  archangel,  and  with  the  trump  of  God:  and  the  dead 
in  Christ  shall  rise  first  ...  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the 
air."  To  refer  this  future  fact  to  a  spiritual  change  is 
condemned  as  the  error  of  Hymeneus  and  Philetus  (2  Tim. 


44  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

2: 18),  which  in  the  apostle's  day  overthrew  the  faith  of 
some.  The  passages  which  prove  its  physical  character 
will  doubtless  be  presented  in  a  succeeding  essay  of  the 
Conference.  It  is  sufficient  for  our  present  purpose  to  show 
that  the  resurrection  of  the  body  has  always  been  and  will 
hereafter  be  personal  and  visible.  And  from  this  we 
have  a  right  to  argue  that  "  the  Lord  in  the  air  "  will  be 
equally  personal  and  visible.  Our  conviction  is  strength- 
ened by  the  use  of  the  Greek  word,  translated  "  to 
meet."  In  every  other  passage  of  the  New  Testament,  in 
which  it  occurs,  it  has  the  uniform  meaning  of  a  personal 
encounter.  The  very  term  introduced  by  the  Evangelists  to 
describe  the  meeting  of  Christ  with  His  disciples  in  His 
mortal  and  risen  life  is  projected  as  the  outline  of  promise 
and  prophecy  for  His  reception  of  His  church  in  the  day  of 
His  appearing.  'To  these  offices  and  actions  might  be 
added  His  relation  to  the  world  as  the  Eestorer  of  Creation, 
of  which  His  miracles  were  the  earnests,  His  relations  to 
the  Jews  as  the  Shiloh  of  Israel,  and  to  the  Gentiles  as  the 
Desire  of  all  Nations,  in  connection  with  which  designation 
every  prophecy  and  all  philosophy  of  government  demand 
personality,  and  His  relation  to  the  church  as  the  Bride- 
groom of  the  Bride  (2  Thess.  1: 10),  "  When  He  shall  come 
to  be  glorified  in  His  saints,  and  to  be  admired  in  all  them 
that  believe  in  that  day."  Every  term  used  in  connection 
with  these  varied  functions  of  His  mediatorial  sovereignty 
requires  somewhat  more  than  a  spiritual  manifestation. 
The  token  of  His  real  personality  and  visibility  was  His 
risen  and  glorified  body.  In  this  He  must  come  again. 
Our  eyes  may  be  holden  that  we  may  not  recognize  Him, 
but  the  difficulty  will  be  in  our  sight,  not  in  His  reality: 
"  We  see  not  yet  all  things  put  under  Him.  But  we  see 
Jesus,  who  was  made  a  little  lower  than  the  angels  for  the 
suffering  of  death,  crowned  with  glory  and  honor."  (Heb. 


CHRIST 8  COMING:   PERSONAL  AND  VISIBLE.       45 

2:8,  0.)  Finally,  to  affirm  that  His  appearing  will  be  that 
of  a  spirit  only  is  to  fall  into  the  very  error  from  which  in 
His  risen  life  our  Lord  delivered  His  disciples.  We  look 
for  our  King  clothed  in  glorified  flesh. 

Great  confusion  has  been  caused  in  this  discussion  by 
the  scholastic  associations  of  the  word  "person."  We  have 
seen  that  all  the  Greek  nouns,  pronouns,  and  adverbs, 
which  are  employed  by  the  sacred  writers  in  this  connection, 
necessarily  imply  both  a  full,  real,  and  individual  appearing 
of  our  Lord,  and  that  this  will  be  a  proper  object  of  sight. 
But  the  force  of  these  terms  has  been  clouded  by  the 
prominence  given  to  the  Latin  word  "  persona."  The 
dream  of  a  personal  as  distinct  from  a  visible  demonstra- 
tion of  our  Lord's  presence  is  not  warranted  by  the  classic 
use  of  the  word,  but  is  a  sequence  of  the  controversy  over 
the  distinctions  in  the  Blessed  Trinity.  Theologians 
writing  in  Latin  chose  this  word  "  persona,"  divested  it  of 
visibility  among  other  ideas,  and  employed  it  in  its 
modified  definition  to  express  the  separate  relations  of  the 
Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost.  So  in  theology  the  word 
has  come  to  have  a  narrow  and  peculiar  meaning,  quite 
distinct  from  that  of  its  derivation.  It  is  with  this  battle- 
axe  of  an  ended  conflict  that  men  are  found  armed  in  the 
controversy  concerning  the  Lord's  coming.  Let  "  persona  " 
have  its  Ciceronian  meaning,  and  the  title  of  this  essay 
will  be  seen  to  be  tautological.  The  appearing  of  our  Lord 
because  personal  must  be  visible. 

To  this  cumulative  argument  we  simply  add,  in  closing, 
the  unmistakable  testimony  that  Christ's  personal  coming 
will  be  visible.  Thus  saith  the  Lord:  (Matt.  26:64), 
"  Hereafter  shall  ye  see  the  Son  of  Man  sitting  on  the  right 
hand  of  power;"  (John  16:16),  "A  little  while,  and  ye 
shall  not  see  Me,  and  again,  a  little  while,  and  ye  shall  see 
Me,  because  I  go  to  the  Father;"  (Kev.  1:7),  "  Behold  He 


46  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

cometh  with  clouds;  and  every  eye  shall  see  Him,  and 
they  also  which  pierced  Him."  To  such  assurances 
Christian  faith  and  hope  impel  the  Lord's  people  to  respond 
in  mutual  congratulation:  (1  John  3:3),  "Beloved,  now 
are  we  the  sons  of  God;  and  it  doth  not  appear  what  we 
shall  be;  but  we  know  that  when  He  shall  appear,  we  shall 
be  like  Him;  for  we  shall  see  Him  as  He  is."  The  Christ 
as  He  was  is  the  object  of  faith.  The  record  of  His 
finished  work  is  so  realized  to  holy  fancy  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  as  to  justify  the  expression  of  St.  Paul  to  the 
Galatians,  (3: 1)  "  before  whose  eyes  Jesus  Christ  hath  been 
evidently  set  forth,  crucified  among  you."  So  actual  was 
Christ,  so  very  real  to  Paul's  faith,  as  to  be  almost  visible. 
The  Christ  as  He  is  is  the  object  of  hope.  The  history  of 
His  risen  life  and  ascension  gives  the  outline  of  the  (Titus 
2: 12)  "  blessed  hope  "  that  we  are  (2  Peter  3: 11)  "looking 
for"  and  (1  Thess.  1:9,  10)  "  waiting  for."  In  holy  con- 
templation,  the  Man  from  the  Glory  comes  often  within 
the  closest  circle  of  our  communion.  But  when  hope  shall 
find  its  divine  and  human  object  in  the  personal  and  visible 
Lord  from  heaven,  then  in  its  fulness  shall  be  understood 
that  saying,  "  He  that  hath  seen  Me  hath  seen  the  Father." 


CHRIST'S  COMING:    IS  IT  PRE-MILLENNIAL.         47 


CUEIST'S    COMING  —  IS  IT  FEE-MILLENNIAL? 

BY  THE  KEY.   S.   H.    KELLOGG,   D.D.,   PROFESSOR    OF    THEOLOGY  IN  THE 
PRESBYTERIAN  SEMINARY,  ALLEGHENY,  PA. 

THAT  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in  his  glorified  human 
nature,  is  yet  to  return  to  this  earth,  is  and  always  has 
been  the  faith  and  hope  of  the  Church.  In  this  article  of 
faith,  Protestant  and  Eomanist,  Greek  and  Oriental 
Christians,  are  all  agreed.  That  same  Jesus  which  was 
taken  up  from  us  into  heaven,  shall  so  come  in  like  man- 
ner as  He  was  seen  to  go.  The  so-called  Millennarian 
controversy  has  never  involved  any  doubt  as  to  the  fact 
that  there  is  to  be  a  literal  bodily  return  of  the  risen  Jesus 
in  the  clouds  of  heaven  to  this  very  earth  which  witnessed 
His  humiliation  and  rejection.  The  undivided  Church 
joins  with  one  accord  in  those  words  of  the  Te  Deum, 
"We  believe  that  Thou  shalt  come  to  be  our  Judge."  Nor 
is  the  question  before  us  whether  this  world  shall  become 
subject  to  Christ.  The  earth  shall'be  filled  with  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  glory  of  the  Lord  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea. 
"  All  nations  shall  serve  and  obey  Him."  On  this  subject 
Scripture  is  so  explicit  that  no  body  of  Christians  has  ever 
rejected  the  doctrine.  This  is  the  eternal  decree  of  the 
Father:  "Ask  of  Me,  and  I  will  give  thee  the  heathen 
for  thine  inheritance  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth 
for  thy  possession."  Nor  is  there  any  question  as  to 
whether  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  shall  be  a  success. 
There  may  be,  and  indeed  is,  among  good  men,  a  question 
as  to  what  the  present  preaching  of  the  Gospel  is  intended 
to  accomplish.  But  whatever  that  may  be,  there  can  be 


4:8  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

no  doubt  that  the  purpose  of  God  in  this  proclamation  of 
the  Gospel  shall  be  accomplished  to  the  very  letter.  "My 
word  shall  not  return  to  me  void,  but  it  shall  accomplish 
that  which  I  please,  and  it  shall  prosper  in  the  thing 
whereto  I  sent  it."  If,  therefore,  it  be  the  purpose  of  God 
that  it  shall  issue  in  the  conversion  of  the  whole  world, 
then,  without  doubt,  whatever  be  the  difficulties  in  the  way, 
these  instrumentalities  now  in  operation  shall  yet  bring 
about  that  glorious  result.  There  is,  most  assuredly,  no 
lack  of  power  in  God,  the  Holy  Spirit,  nor  of  inherent 
virtue  in  the  Gospel  to  this  end.  And  if,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  be  the  purpose  of  God  that,  in  this  present  dis- 
pensation, the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  shall  only  issue  in 
the  gathering  out  of  an  election  from  all  nations,  then  also 
that  purpose  of  God  shall  be  accomplished,  and  no  more. 
But  it  is  plain  that,  in  this  case  as  well  as  the  former,  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel  will  have  been  a  success.  In 
either  case,  it  will  have  accomplished  all  that  it  was 
intended  to  accomplish,  and  that  is  what  we  call  success. 

It  should  be  scarcely  necessary  to  remark  that  the  ques- 
tion before  us  does  not  concern  the  absolute  time  of  the 
coming  of  the  Lord.  Concerning  that,  the  testimony  of 
the  word  of  God  is  most  emphatic.  "  Of  that  day  and 
hour  knoweth  no  man — no,  not  the  Son,  but  only  my  Father 
which  is  in  Heaven."  It  is  a  matter  of  the  greatest  regret 
that  so  many  have  forgotten  the  explicit  teachings  of  the 
Scriptures  upon  this  subject,  and  suffered  themselves  to  be 
led  aside'  into  deliverances  upon  this  matter,  which,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  being  falsified  by  the  event,  have  served 
to  bring  the  most  precious  hope  of  the  Church  into  disre- 
pute, and  deterred  many  good  and  earnest  men  from  even 
entering  on  the  consideration  of  a  subject  which,  to  their 
minds,  seemed  so  fraught  with  evil  consequences  to  the 
sobriety  of  Christian  life.  We,  one  and  all,  can  not  do 


CHRIST 8  COMING  :   IS  IT  PRE-MILLENNIAL.        49 

better  in  this  matter  than  stand  firm  on  the  words  of  one 
of  the  great  historical  confessions:  "As  Christ  would 
have  us  certainly  persuaded  that  there  shall  be  a  day  of 
judgment,  so  will  He  have  that  day  unknown  to  men,  that 
they  may  shake  off  all  carnal  security,  and  be  always 
watchful,  because  they  know  not  what  hour  the  Lord  will 
come."  Nor  is  there  any  question  between  Millennarians 
and  others  as  to  the  essential  nature  of  that  resurrection 
life  upon  which  all  agree  that  all  believers  shall  enter  at 
the  coming  of  the  Lord.  Millennarians  have  sometimes 
been  charged  with  holding  that  those  who  shall  rise  and 
reign  with  Christ  when  He  shall  appear  will  enter  upon  an 
earthly  life,  after  the  fashion  of  the  life  which  we  now  lead 
in  the  flesh.  Thus  an  eminent  theologian  argues  against 
the  doctrine  of  the  Pre-Millenialists,  that  it  is  inconsistent 
with  what  the  Scriptures  uniformly  teach  as  to  the  nature 
of  the  resurrection  body;  that  it  is  to  be  spiritual,  and  not 
natural,  or  flesh  and  blood.  "Whereas,  according  to  the 
writer  quoted,  "  it  is  an  essential  part  of  the  doctrine  ot 
the  Pre-Millennialists  that  the  saints  are  to  rise  and  reign  a 
thousand  years  in  the  flesh."  This  passage  rests  upon  a 
strange  misapprehension  of  what  Pre-Millennialists  under- 
stand the  Scriptures  to  teach  upon  this  subject.  It  is  safe 
to  say  that  no  Millennarian  of  any  repute  holds  to  a  res- 
urrection of  the  sort  suggested  in  the  passage  cited.  A 
life  of  the  risen  saints  in  some  special  connection  with  this 
earth,  even  as  it  is  at  present  constituted,  no  more  implies 
that  their  resurrection  bodies  will  not  be  in  the  sense  of 
the  Apostle,  "  spiritual,"  or  that  their'  resurrection  life  is 
to  be  a  life  in  the  flesh,  after  the  manner  of  this  present 
life,  than  the  undoubted  fact  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Himself, 
during  the  forty  days  after  His  resurrection,  appeared  in  a 
body  of  flesh  and  bones  upon  this  earth,  to  men  in  the 
flesh,  implies  that  His  life  was  at  that  time,  in  the  sense  of 
4 


50  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

our  author,  a  life  in  the  flesh.  As  was  the  body,  and  as 
was  the  resurrection  life  of  our  Lord,  so,  beyond  all  doubt, 
according  to  the  abundant  testimony  of  the  word  of  God, 
shall  be  the  resurrection  bodies  and  the  resurrection  life  of 
this  people. 

Still  further,  in  order  to  reach  the  truth  upon  the  sub- 
ject before  us,  it  is  important  to  separate  this  question 
from  others  closely  connected  therewith.  For  example, 
the  question  before  us  is  not  whether  or  not  the  kingdom 
of  Christ  be  as  yet,  in  any  sense,  present  in  the  world,  a 
question  to  which,  in  passing,  we  may  remark  the  parables 
in  Matt.  13  seem  to  give  an  affirmative  answer.  Neither  is 
the  question  before  us  in  this  paper  whether  there  shall  be  a 
first  and  second  resurrection,  nor  whether  Christ  shall  yet 
reign  personally  upon  this  earth.  These  questions,  indeed, 
have  been  and  are  closely  connected  with  the  question  of  a 
Pre-Millennial  advent,  but  they  are  not  so  closely  connected 
but  that,  in  instances,  not  a  few  men  have  rejected  the  doc- 
trine of  a  converted  world  previous  to  the  coming  of  the 
Lord,  while  yet  not  affirming  the  doctrine  of  a  first  and 
a  second  resurrection,  nor  that  of  a  personal  reign  of  the 
Lord  upon  the  earth.  Such,  indeed,  appears  to  have  been 
the  position  of  most  of  the  reformers.  In  order  to  clear- 
ness of  discussion,  it  is  important,  for  the  present,  to  waive 
all  reference  to  these  or  any  other  related  questions,  and 
confine  our  attention  strictly  to  the  precise  point  before  us, 
which  we  may  state  as  follows :  "  Does  the  word  of  God 
teach  that,  prior  to  the  advent  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  we 
are  to  look  for  the  conversion  of  the  world  to  Him,  and  a 
prolonged  season  of  universal  peace  and  prevailing  right- 
eousness, or  does  it  teach  the  contrary?"  According  to 
the  opinion  of  the  P?e-Millennialists,  which  prevails  most 
widely  in  the  present  century,  and  more  especially  in  our 
own  country,  the  conversion  of  the  world,  both  Jew  and 


CHRISTS  COMING :   IS  IT  P RE -MILLENNIAL.        51 

Gentile,  and  the  consequent  establishment  of  the  King- 
dom of  .  Christ,  is  to  precede  the  personal  return  of  the 
Lord  Jesus.  By  the  use  of  means  at  present  employed, 
accompanied  by  unprecedented  operations  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  it  is  supposed  that  the  world  is  to  be  totally  trans- 
formed, and  in  some  sense  converted.  The  Spirit  is  to  be 
poured  out  so  abundantly  that,  as  the  result,  righteousness 
will  prevail  throughout  the  whole  earth.  As  to  how 
extensively  men  shall  be  individually  renewed  and  con- 
verted, in  the  Gospel  sense  of  those  words,  there  seems  to 
be  a  great  difference  of  opinion.  Some  have  even  sup- 
posed that  the  expected  conversion  shall  be  literally  univer- 
sal. A  greater  number,  probably,  seem  to  think  that  very 
many,  in  the  aggregate,  may  remain  inwardly  unrenewed, 
but  that,  on  the  whole,  the  great  majority  will  be  truly 
converted  unto  God;  and  that,  as  the  result  of  this,  sin, 
where  it  still  remains,  will  be  universally  restrained,  so 
that  "  nation  shall  not  lift  up  sword  against  nation,  neither 
shall  men  learn  war  any  more."  Others,  again,  seem  to 
expect  little  more  than  a  merely  nominal  and  outward  pro- 
fession of  Christianity  by  the  nations  of  the  world,  as 
such,  and  the  practical  recognition  of  the  principles  of  the 
moral  law  in  social  and  political  life.  As  to  how  far  such 
an  issue  could,  in  the  Scriptural  sense  of  words,  be  called 
a  conversion  of  the  world  to  God,  we  leave  to  others  to 
judge.  The  happy  state  of  things  to  be  brought  about, 
sooner  or  later,  by  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  of  what- 
ever sort  it  be,  it  is  believed,  will  continue  for  a  very  long 
time,  which  is  called  the  Millennium.  Its  duration  it  is 
commonly  argued  from  Rev.  20,  will  not  be  less  than  a 
thousand  years.  After  that  it  is  understood" that  the  Bible 
Caches  that  there  will  be  a  general  apostasy  from  the  faith, 
^hich  will  be  shortly  and  finally  brought  to  an  end  by  the 
return  of  the  Lord  to  judgment,  when  the  present  order  of 


52  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

things  will  pass  away  forever.  If  this  is  the  teaching  of  the 
Scriptures,  then  it  is  plain  that  the  coming  of  the  Lord  is  not 
even  possible  for  more  than  a  thousand  years  to  come,  and 
how  much  longer  no  one  can  tell. 

As  opposed  to  all  this,  Pre-Millennialists,  believing, 
indeed,  with  the  Post-Millennialist,  that  righteousness  shall 
yet  prevail  over  all  the  earth,  understand  the  Scriptures  to 
teach  that  this  is  not  to  be  expected  before  the  Lord  Jesus 
shall  return.  That  although  the  Gospel  shall,  indeed,  be 
ever  more  and  more  widely  spread  abroad,  yet  the  word  of 
God  gives  us  no  reason  to  look  for  any  radical  and  real  spir- 
itual change  in  the  condition  of  the  world  till  the  glorious 
appearing  of  the  Lord.  This,  then,  in  a  word,  is  the  ques- 
tion: "Do  the  Scriptures  teach,  or  do  they  not,  that  the 
world  is  to  be,  in  any  true  sense  of  the  word,  converted 
before  the  return  of  the  Son  of  Man?"  Before  entering 
upon  the  investigation  of  this  question,  it  is  well  that  we 
bear  in  mind  the  following  two  considerations:  It  is  of 
the  greatest  importance,  in  dealing  with  this  subject,  as, 
indeed,  with  any  other  question  regarding  the  teaching  of 
the  word  of  God,  that  we  allow  no  preconceptions  of  our 
own,  whether  derived  from  the  natural  reason  or  from  any 
traditional  interpretation  of  the  Scripture  which  we  may 
have  received,  even  from  good  and  devout  men,  to  deter- 
mine our  judgment  in  the  decision  of  the  matter.  The 
question  before  us  is  purely  and  simply  a  question  as  to 
the  teaching  of  the  word  of  God.  Let  us,  therefore, 
beware  of  determining,  a  priori,  what,  as  regards  the  gov- 
ernment of  this  world,  God  may  or  may  not  be  expected 
to  do.  The  words  of  the  Lord  are  ever  to  be  borne  in 
mind:  "  My  thoughts  are  not  as  your  thoughts,  neither 
are  your  ways  My  ways."  And,  in  the  second  place,  it  is 
to  be  remembered  that  we  can  not,  in  this  matter,  any 
more  than  in  many  other  teachings  of  the  ScriptureSi 


CHRISFS  COMING  :   IS  IT  PRE-MILLENNIAL.        53 

demand  that  all  difficulties  shall  be  removed.  To  insist  that 
every  difficulty  shall  be  removed,  and  every  possible  ques- 
tion answered  before  we  shall  give  our  assent  to  a  doctrine 
of  the  Bible,  is  not  the  part  of  a  wise  Christian.  In  how 
many  matters,  even  more  central  and  vital  than  that  which 
is  before  us  to-day,  are  we  shut  up  to  a  choice  of  difficulties. 
Let  us  remember  well  that,  although  we  may  not  be  able 
to  answer  every  question  or  difficulty  that  may  be  urged 
against  a  doctrine,  it  by  no  means  follows  that  we  are  justi- 
fied in  rejecting  it.  On  this  principle,  we  should  be  justi- 
fied in  rejecting  the  doctrine  of  the  Atonement  itself.  So, 
in  the  present  question  especially,  as  it  seems  to  me,  are 
we  shut  up  to  a  choice  of  difficulties,  which  ever  side  we 
take.  We  have  simply  to  take  that  side  which  is  encum- 
bered with  the  fewest  and  least  serious  difficulties.  What, 
then,  does  the  word  of  God  teach  as  to  the  question  of  a 
conversion  of  the  world  before  the  coming  of  the  Lord? 


It  is  oftea  charged  that  the  arguments  of  the  Pre-Mil- 
lennialists,  on  this  subject,  rest  chiefly,  if  not  entirely, 
upon  the  more  obscure  and  symbolical  portions  of  the 
Scriptures.  It  is  even  said  by  some  that  their  case  rests 
chiefly,  if  not  entirely,  upon  a  certain  interpretation  of 
Rev.  20,  touching  the  first  and  second  resurrection.  It  is 
proposed,  therefore,  in  the  present  inquiry,  to  waive  refer- 
ence to  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  the  sym- 
bolical portions  of  the  Bible  generally.  "We  shall  all  agree 
that  in  our  interpretation  of  the  Bible,  the  interpretation 
of  that  which  is  obscure  or  symbolical  is  to  be  determined 
by  that  of  those  portions  which  are  evidently  to  be  taken 
in  a  literal  and  didactic  sense.  Especially  must  the  New 
Testament  be  ever  allowed  to  determine  the  interpretation  of 
the  Old,  and  not  the  reverse.  On  these  principles,  all  wise 


54  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

interpreters   of    every   school   must   agree.     What,    then, 
saith  the  Scripture  on  the  subject  before  us? 

1.  The  first  notable  fact  bearing  on  the  decision  of  the 
question  before  us  is  the  utter  absence  of  any  statement  in 
the  New  Testament  that  any  such  period  of  universal  con- 
version and  long-prevailing  righteousness  is  to  be  witnessed 
previous  to  the  Coming  of  the  Lord.  This  fact  is  pecu- 
liarly notable  and  significant  in  the  case  of  the  Apostle 
Paul.  In  our  day  the  expected  conversion  of  the  world 
is  constantly  held  up  as  the  great  motive  and  incentive  to 
missionary  labor.  We  are  even  told  by  many  who  ought 
to  be  able  to  judge,  that  if  through  the  prevalence  of  the 
contrary  view  people  shall  come  to  doubt  this,  a  sad  decline 
in  missionary  activity  of  the  Church  must  be  expected  as 
the  inevitable  result.  But  here  is  the  very  Chief  and 
Prince  of  all  Missionaries,  holding  His  commission  direct 
from  the  Master,  taught,  as  He  tells,  not  by  any  fallible  or 
even  inspired  man,  but  directly  by  the  Lord  Himself  and 
His  Spirit.  More  than  once  He  tells  us  of  the  motives 
that  urged  Him  on,  and  filled  Him  with  a  zeal  for  the  sal- 
vation of  men  which  has  been  rarely  equaled  and  never 
excelled,  but  never  does  He  state  that  His  motive  was 
found  in  the  expectation  that  the  world  was  to  be  con- 
verted by  His  preaching  or  that  of  any  other  man.  He 
speaks,  indeed,  of  a  time  when  all  Israel  shall  be  saved. 
But  that  does  not  affect  the  precise  fact  which  we  now 
urge,  that  nowhere  does  He  represent  the  subjugation  of 
the  world  to  Christ  as  the  motive  which  was  the  inspiration 
of  His  unequaled  labors  and  sufferings.  On  the  contrary, 
when  He  states  His  motives,  He  does  it  in  language  like 
the  following:  u  Knowing  the  terror  of  the  Lord,  we  per- 
suade men;  the  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us."  2  Cor. 
5  :  11,  14.  "  Endure  all  things  for  the  elect's  sakes,  that 
they  may  obtain  the  salvation  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus 


CUBIST'S  COMING :   IS  IT  PRE-MILLENNIAL.         55 

with  eternal  glory."  2  Tim.  1:  10.  "I  am  made  all 
things  to  all  men  that  I  might  by  all  means  save  some." 
1  Cor.  9:  23.  Nor  does  it  appear  as  if  He  expected  the 
conversion  of  the  world  as  the  final  result  of  such  labors  by 
His  successors  in  the  future.  "  The  last  times,"  He  tells, 
shall  differ  from  the  times  before  only  in  that  they  shall 
be  "perilous  times."  2  Tim.  3:1.  On  one  occasion  in 
particular  the  Apostle  had  very  special  reason,  if  he 
expected  a  millennium  of  peace  and  holiness  before  the 
Coming  of  the  Lord,  to  refer  to  the  fact.  When  the  Thes- 
salonian  Christians  on  one  occasion  were  greatly  troubled 
because  they  had  been  led  to  believe  that  the  day  of  the 
Lord  had  already  come,  Paul  quieted  their  apprehensions — 
how?  By  telling  them,  as  was  most  natural  if  the  modern 
doctrine  were  true,  "  that  the  day  of  the  Lord  would  not 
come  except  the  world  should  first  be  converted  unto 
God?"  If  this  were  the  truth,  it  was  the  very  thing  to 
say.  It  were,  indeed,  simply  inconceivable  that  the 
Apostle,  if  he  knew  anything  about  this  coming  conversion 
of  the  world  as  the  necessary  antecedent  of  the  Lord, 
should  not  have  said  so.  But  the  fact,  simply  unaccount- 
able upon  the  truth  of  the  modern  theory,  is  that  he  did 
not.  Nay,  so  far  from  this,  he  told  them  the  exact  reverse; 
not  that  the  Millennium  must  come  first,  the  world  be 
converted,  but  that  "the  man  of  sin"  must  first  be 
revealed,  whom  the  Lord  would  "destroy  with  the  bright- 
ness of  His  coining." 

2.  But  we  may  go  yet  further.  Not  only  does  the 
New  Testament  nowhere  state  that  the  intended  result  of 
the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  in  this  dispensation  is  the 
conversion  of  the  world  to  God,  but  when  that  object  is 
formally  stated,  as  it  is  in  two  places,  it  is  stated  in  terms 
which  imply  the  exact  reverse  of  this.  The  first  passage 
we  may  note  is  in  Acts  15:  14.  The  Jewish  Christians 


56  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

were  greatly  scandalized  that  Peter  should  have  preached 
the  Gospel  to  the  Gentiles,  or  heathen  as  we  should  call 
them,  and  received  them  into  the  Church  along  with  the 
circumcision.  Peter,  it  appears,  felt  it  necessary  to  justify 
himself  for  this  before  the  council  of  the  Church  in  Jeru- 
salem. How  natural  it  were,  again,  if  that  preaching  of 
the  Gospel  to  the  Gentiles  were  for  the  conversion  of  the 
whole  of  the  Gentiles  to  God,  that  Peter  should  have  said 
so.  But  here  again  we  have  no  hint  from  him  of  such  an 
issue,  though,  if  he  knew  about  it,  it  was  evidently  the 
very  thing  to  say.  His  language,  on  the  contrary,  seems 
rather  to  exclude  any  general  conversion.  For  we  read: 
"  God  did  visit  the  Gentiles,  to  take  out  of  them  a  people 
for  His  name."  But  some  one  may  ask,  is  it  not  possible 
that  the  preaching  should  go  on  until  all  mankind,  in  an 
age  to  come,  should  be  numbered  among  the  people  of 
God?  This  question  is  explicitly  answered  in  the  other 
passage,  where,  according  to  the  usual  understanding,  the 
object  of  the  present  ministration  of  the  Gospel  is  formally 
stated,  viz.:  Matt.  24:  14,  where  we  read:  "This  Gospel 
of  the  Kingdom  shall  be  preached  in  all  the  world,"  not 
for  its  conversion.  Why  did  not  the  Lord  say  so  if  that 
were  indeed  the  object? — "but  for  a  witness  unto  all 
nations,  and  then  " — without  waiting  for  a  general  conver- 
sion of  the  nations — "  then  shall  the  end  come,  all  nations 
must  hear,  and  then  shall  the*end  come."  To  sum  up 
this  argument,  we  may  safely  say  that  in  the  whole  Bible 
among  the  formal  statements  of  the  object  of  the  preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel  by  Christ's  ministers,  there  is  not 
a  single  one  which  states  that  object  to  be  the  conversion 
of  the  world  to  God.  If  we  are  to  expect  a  Millennium  of 
righteousness  before  the  Lord's  return,  how  is  this  fact  to 
be  accounted  for? 

3.     Again,  any  theory  which,   like  the   modern    Post- 


CHRIST 8  COMING:   IS  IT  PRE-MILLENNIAL.         57 

Millennial  doctrine,  interposes  a  period  before  the  Advent 
so  long  that  it  should  be  known  as  impossible  within  the 
lifetime  of  any  individual  generation  of  believers  is 
irreconcilable  with  the  repeated  statements  of  the  Scripture 
that  we  know  not  the  day  "  when  the  Master  will  return 
from  the  far  country"  whither  He  has  gone;  whether  His 
coming  will  be  "  in  the  first  watch  or  in  the  second  watch, 
or  at  the  cock  crowing,  or  in  the  morning."  According  to 
these  words,  it  was  far  from  being  certain  that  He  would 
not  come  until  almost  the  morning  watch;  that  it  was 
represented  as  likely  enough,  for  anything  that  His  people 
knew  to  the  contrary,  that  He  might  come  even  in  the  first 
watch  of  the  night.  So  far  from  there  being  any  revelation 
which  should  warrant  any  generation  of  believers  in 
assuming  that  the  Coming  of  the  Lord  was  a  thousand 
years  or  more  away,  this  postponement,  as  it  were,  of  the 
Coming  of  the  Lord,  is  in  utter  opposition  to  all  those  state- 
ments of  the  word  of  God  that  we  know  not  the  day  of 
Christ's  appearing.  On  this  subject  Archbishop  Trench 
has  well  and  truly  said,  "  It  is  a  necessary  element  of  the 
doctrine  concerning  the  Second  Coming  of  Christ,  that  it 
should  be  possible  at  any  time,  that  no  generation  of 
believers  should  regard  it  as  impossible  in  theirs."  Those, 
therefore,  who  fix  a  time  in  the  distant  future  before  which 
Christ  can  not  come,  equally  with  those  who  fix  a  time  in 
the  near  present  by  which  He  must  come,  place  themselves 
in  conflict  with  this  word  of  the  Lord. 

4.  And  this  argument  becomes  even  more  forcible  when 
we  consider  the  duty  which,  in  view  of  this  utter  uncer- 
tainty of  the  time  of  the  Advent,  is  everywhere  urged  upon 
the  disciples  of  Christ  in  all  ages  to  watch  continually, 
(Matt.  24:42,  etc.)  We  can  not  refer  these  words  to  death, 
as  is  sometimes  done,  because  in  no  place  where  these 
words  occur  is  there  the  slightest  reference  to  death  in  the 


SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


whole  context,  but  only  to  the  return  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 
Not  an  instance  can  be  adduced  in  the  whole  Bible 
where  the  phrase  "  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man  "  can  be 
proven  to  refer  to  death.  Nor  can  we  accept  that  exegesis 
which,  in  certain  places  at  least,  refers  the  phrase  to  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem.  For  although  undoubtedly  the 
chapter  in  Matthew's  gospel,  to  which  reference  has  been 
made,  does  contain  a  prophecy  of  that  event,  yet  that 
coming  of  the  Son  of  Man  for  which  Christ  bids  His  dis- 
ciples to  watch  can  not  possibly  be  understood  of  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  for  the  simple  reason  that  the 
coming  in  question  is  expressly  said  to  take  place  "  after  " 
that  event,  and  therefore  can  not  be  the  same  thing.  It 
can  only  be  that  glorious  coming  of  the  risen  Jesus  in  the 
clouds  of  Heaven,  which  the  universal  Church  expects 
sooner  or  later,  of  which,  in  the  passage  cited,  we  are  told 
that  no  man  knows  the  time,  and  for  which  all  believers  in 
all  ages  are  therefore  bidden  to  watch  until  He  shall  come. 
Now,  on  the  common  hypothesis  that  the  entire  world  is  to 
be  converted  and  continue  in  that  happy  state  for  centuries 
before  the  Lord  can  come,  how  is  it  possible  for  any  genera- 
tion of  believers  receiving  that  theory  as  certain  truth  to 
watch  for  the  coming  of  the  Lord  .  till  that  expected 
Millennium  shall  have  come  and  gone?  It  is  too  often 
forgotten  that  theories  as  to  the  interpretation  of  prophecy 
should  never  be  allowed  to  affect  our  attendance  to  plain 
precepts.  It  is  quite  safe  to  say  that  any  interpretation  of 
prophecy  which  makes  obedience  to  any  command  a  moral 
impossibility  is  ipso  facto  proven  to  be  erroneous.  But  is 
it  a  possibility  for  a  believer  who  is  assured  that  the  Coming 
of  the  Lord  is  at  least  a  thousand  years  away,  to  watch  for 
that  coming  in  his  lifetime?  If,  for  example,  I  take  a 
journey  to  another  country,  and  on  departing  tell  my  son 
that  I  shall  not  return  for  ten  years,  or  for  any  other  fixed 


CHRIST S  COMING  :   18  IT  FEE-MILLENNIAL.        50 

and  definite  time,  and  then  tell  him  to  watch  for  me  every 
day,  would  I  not  seem  to  him  utterly  inconsistent?  If,  on 
the  one  hand,  he  believes  my  assurance  that  I  will  not 
return  before  a  certain  appointed  time,  will  it  not  for  that 
very  reason  become  impossible  for  him  to  watch  for  me  till 
that  time  is  up?  And,  on  the  other,  would  not  my  charge 
to  watch  for  me  every  month  and  year  inevitably  suggest 
to  him  a  doubt  whether  after  all  I  am  sure  that  I  will  not 
return  much  sooner  than  I  had  said?  For  it  is  plain  that 
the  mental  state  or  act  of  watching  for  a  person  implies 
not  only  a  general  expectancy  that  the  person  will  come 
sometime,  but,  beyond  a  doubt,  involves  as  a  necessary 
condition  the  belief  that  the  person  may  come  at  any  time. 
Inasmuch,  therefore,  as  no  candid  person  will  deny  that  the 
Lord  does  command  His  disciples  in  all  ages  to  watch  for 
His  coming,  it  follows  irresistibly  that  the  Lord  intended 
that  we  should  think  of  His  advent  as  always  possible,  and 
forbids  us  to  interpose  any  such  fixed  period  of  time 
between  us  and  His  coming  as  shall  make  it  impossible  for 
us  to  believe  that  He  may  come  in  our  own  day. 


The  ablest  work  that  has  been  written  in  defence  of  the 
current  theory  on  this  subject  is  probably  that  of  the  Rev. 
David  Brown,  on  the  Second  Advent.  He  devotes  several 
pages  to  the  consideration  of  the  weighty  argument  derived 
from  this  command  of  the  Lord  to  watch  for  His  appearing. 
His  argument  is,  in  brief,  after  this  manner:  That  the 
New  Testament  is  full  of  intimations,  as  of  a  predicted 
apostasy  in  the  church,  a  universal  proclamation  of  the 
Gospel,  etc.,  which  he  says  must  have  compelled  the  early 
Christians  to  believe  that  the  Lord's  Coming  was  not  to  be 
expected  in  their  day  because  all  these  developments 
required  much  time;  nay,  he  reminds  us  of  what  no  one 


60  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST, 

can  deny — that  the  Lord  Himself,  while  telling  the  disci- 
ples to  watch,  gave  them  distinct  intimations  that  His 
coming  would  be  delayed.  To  all  which  we  answer,  that 
although  without  doubt  we  do  have  such  intimations  of  a 
delay,  yet  it  by  no  means  follows  that  the  Christians  of  the 
first  century  were  able  to  see  all  this.  For  there  is  not  a 
single  one  of  the  passages  adduced  which  contains  within 
itself  the  slightest  chronological  note  which  might  have 
guided  the  early  Christians  to  such  a  conclusion.  Who 
among  them,  any  more  than  among  ourselves,  knew,  for 
example,  how  much  time  might  be  covered  by  the  phrase, 
"the  times  of  the  Gentiles,"  in  the  passage  in  Luke  21:24, 
which  Dr.  Brown  quotes  as  illustrating  his  position? 
Those  predicted  times,  for  all  we  absolutely  know  to  the 
contrary,  may  have  centuries  yet  to  run  before  they  shall 
have  expired;  on  the  other  hand,  we  know  not  but  that 
they  may  even  now  be  closing.  And  certainly  the  words 
could  have  conveyed  no  more  hint  of  the  time  involved 
to  the  Christians  of  the  first  century  than  to  ourselves. 
Even  the  phrase,  u  a  long  time"  (Matt.  25  : 19),  which  is 
much  pressed,  has  no  bearing  on  the  question,  which  is, 
not  whether  an  intimation  of  centuries  was  conveyed  in 
these  words,  but  whether  the  words  necessarily  conveyed 
that  meaning  to  those  who  first  heard  them.  The  phrase 
"  a  long  time  "  is  evidently  a  purely  relative  term,  and  may 
mean  either  days,  years,  or  centuries,  according  to  the  scale 
of  time  before  the  mind.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  in  the 
parable  in  question,  the  phrase  could  not  denote  a  period 
equal  to  the  ordinary  lifetime  of  a  man.  "After  a  long 
time  the  Lord  of  those  servants  cometh  and  reckorieth  with 
them."  The  whole  story  of  the  parable  was  comprehended 
in  the  lifetime  of  the  nobleman  who  went  on  the  far 
journey,  leaving  his  servants  in  charge. 

But  it  is  still  more  to  the  point,  in    replying  to  this 


CHRISFS  COMING  :   18  IT  PRE-MILLENNIAL.         61 

evasion  of  the  argument  for  an  Advent  to  be  regarded  as 
ever  imminent,  as  derived  from  the  command  to  watch, 
that  as  a  matter  of  confessed  historical  fact,  of  which 
Gibbon,  for  example,  assures  us,  the  primitive  Christians 
did  not  understand  any  of  these  words  of  our  Lord  as 
precluding  the  possibility  of  His  return  in  their  lifetime. 
On  the  contrary,  so  widely  prevalent  was  the  expectation  of 
the  speedy  return  of  the  Lord  in  the  glory  of  His  Kingdom 
in  the  first  ages  of  the  Church,  that  that  historian  assigns 
this  as  -one  of  the  various  causes  which,  in  his  opinion, 
serve  to  explain  the  astonishing  progress  of  Christianity  in 
the  first  centuries. 

But  the  most  plausible  argument  against  the  statement 
that  the  New  Testament  represents  the  Advent  as  ever 
imminent,  and,  therefore,  to  be  regarded  as  possible  in  any 
and  every  generation,  is  derived  from  2  Thess.  2  :  2,  where 
the  apostle  exhorts  the  Thessalonian  Christians,  according 
to  our  version,  "not  to  be  troubled  *  *  *  as  though 
the  day  of  Christ  were  at  hand."  Here,  we  are  told,  the 
apostle  expressly  warns  the  Thessalonians  against  regard- 
ing the  Coming  of  the  Lord  as  imminent;  so  that  in  His 
mind,  as  he  had  already  charged  the  Thessalonians  to  watch 
for  the  Coming  of  the  Lord,  watching  did  not  necessarily 
imply  that  the  Advent  was  possible  in  the  lifetime  of  that 
generation.  On  this  objection  we  may  remark  first  of  all, 
that  it  is  certain  that  Paul  did  not  mean  to  contradict 
himself  or  weaken  in  the  least  the  force  of  the  exhortations 
in  the  previous  epistle  in  which  he  had  reminded  the 
Thessalonians  that  "  the  day  of  the  Lord  so  corneth  as  a 
thief  in  the  night."  Nor  can  these  words,  by  anyone  who 
believes  in  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  be  understood 
really  to  contradict  the  many  passages  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment in  which  the  Coming  of  the  Lord  is  spoken  of  as 
imminent.  Nor  can  these  words,  however  they  may  be 


02  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

explained,  touch  the  fact  that,  according  to  the  common 
use  of  the  word,  no  man  can  be  said  to  watch,  except  he 
regard  the  event  for  which  he  watches  as  at  least  possible 
at  any  time. 

In  the  second  place,  if  the  rendering  of  our  version  be 
correct,  it  assumes  a  state  of  mind  among  the  Thessalo- 
nians  in  regard  to  the  advent  of  the  Lord  of  which  we  have 
no  example  in  the  Primitive  Church,  and  which  in  partic- 
ular is  entirely  exclusive  of  that  eager  desire  to  have  a 
share  in  the  coming  glories  of  the  Advent  which  is 
revealed  in  the  first  Epistle.  For,  according  to  our  ver- 
sion, it  would  appear  that  the  apprehended  nearness  of  the 
coming  of  the  Lord  was  an  occasion  not  of  joy  but  of 
trouble  to  the  Thessalonians.  But  there  is  not  the  slight- 
est evidence  that  until  the  defection  of  the  Church  from 
primitive  apostolic  truth  Christ's  coming  was  ever  any- 
thing but  an  object  of  intense  desire  and  longing  to  His 
people.  When  we  regard  these  historical  facts,  we  may 
safely  say  that  the  apprehended  nearness  of  the  Advent 
could  by  no  means  have  been  an  occasion  of  trouble  and 
distress  to  the  Christians  of  Thessalonica.  So  far  from 
this,  it  appears  from  the  previous  Epistle  that  so  desirable 
did  the  coming  of  the  Lord  seem  to  them  that  they  were  in 
great  concern  of  mind  least  any  of  their  number  who  had 
died  might  by  their  death  be  excluded  from  participation 
in  the  glories  of  that  day. 

Again,  we  have  from  the  lips  of  our  Saviour  and  His 
Apostles  numerous  statements  as  to  the  condition  of  the 
Church  between  the  Ascension  and  the  Second  Advent 
which  utterly  preclude  the  common  modern  expectation  in 
the  interim.  The  entire  New  Testament  uniformly  repre- 
sents the  condition  of  the  Church  on  earth  during  this 
period  as  one  not  of  peace  and  prosperity,  but  on  the  con- 
trary of  sorrow  and  humiliation.  First  of  all  in  this  con- 


CHRIST S  COMING:    IS  IT  PRE-MILLENNIAL.         03 

nection  we  may  note  those  words  of  our  Lord  in  Matt.  9: 
1-i.  The  disciples  of  John  had  complained  that  the  dis- 
ciples of  Christ  did  not  fast.  Christ  answers  to  the  effect 
that  fasting,  being  an  expression  of  sorrow,  was  as  much 
out  of  place  while  He,  the  Heavenly  Bridegroom,  was 
with  His  disciples,  as  a  piece  of  new  cloth  on  an  old  gar- 
ment; but  that  days  were  coming  when  He,  as  to  His 
bodily  presence,  should  be  taken  from  them,  and  those 
should  indeed  be  for  the  children  of  the  Bridegroom  days 
of  fasting.  Here  indisputably  the  entire  period  of  the 
personal  absence  of  the  Lord  from  His  Church  is  repre- 
sented as  a  time  in  which  for  them  fasting  shall  be  suitable 
and  proper,  and  therefore,  by  fair  implication,  as  a  time  of 
grief  and  sorrow  for  His  people.  But  is  a  millennium  of 
universal  peace  of  righteousness  likely  to  have  been 
included  in  this  representation  of  the  period  in  question  as 
one  of  unbroken  sorrow?  But  in  perfect  accord  with  the 
intimation  of  this  passage  are  all  the  statements  of  the 
New  Testament  which  refer  indisputably  to  the  state  of 
the  Church  in  the  present  dispensation.  In  the  very 
beginning  Christ  sends  forth  His  missionaries,  not  with 
the  grand  promise  that  their  ministry  should  at  last  issue 
in  the  conversion  of  all  nations  of  the  world  to  Him,  but 
with  the  assurance  that  they  have  to  expect  the  same 
treatment  from  the  world  that  He  Himself  had;  that  if 
they  had  called  the  master  of  the  house  Beelzebub  they 
would  even  more  surely  call  His  servants  the  same.  He 
accordingly  speaks  of  His  people,  most  tenderly,  as  a  little 
flock;  He  tells  them  that  in  this  world  they  shall  have 
tribulation;  that  is,  as  the  whole  context  shows,  tribula- 
tion, not  from  causes  common  to  all  men  alike,  as  sickness, 
poverty  and  death,  but  tribulation  at  the  hands  of  the 
world,  and  because  of  their  personal  relation  to  Him;  that 
as  the  world  had  persecuted  Him,  so  it  would  also,  in  one 


64  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

way  or  another,  persecute  them,  and  be  no  more  ready  to 
keep  their  saying  than  it  had  been  to  keep  His.  Indeed, 
in  Romans  8:17,  and  elsewhere,  this  fellowship  in  the 
sufferings  of  a  rejected  Christ  is  declared  to  be  the  insep- 
arable condition  of  sharing  in  His  glory.  The  ministry  of 
the  Church  to  the  world  has  been,  and  still  is,  a  ministry 
of  rejection  and  sorrow.  Where  in  the  New  Testament  is 
there  any  intimation  that  in  this  present  order  of  things 
and  before  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  there  is  to  come  a 
time  when  all  such  representations  as  these  si i all  be  no 
longer  true?  We  do  indeed  read  much  of  a  time  when  the 
Church  shall  be  delivered  from  her  sorrows  and  tribula- 
tions, but  in  perfect  accord  with  that  intimation  of  our 
Lord  with  which  we  began,  the  promise  is  always  and 
only  placed  in  connection  with  the  return  of  the  Absent 
Lord,  the  Bridegroom  of  the  Church.  Rest  is  indeed  to  be 
recompensed  to  the  troubled  Church,  but  only,  says  the 
Apostle  Paul,  when  the  Lord  Jesus  shall  be  revealed  from 
Heaven  with  His  mighty  angels.  2  Thess.  1:7.  It  is 
only,  according  to  the  intimation  of  the  parable,  when  the 
Son  of  Man  cometh,  the  cry  of  the  widowed  Church  so 
long  apparently  neglected,  shall  at  last  be  heard.  Luke  18: 
1-8.  How  are  such  passages  as  these,  to  the  general  tenor 
of  which  no  exception  can  be  found,  to  be  reconciled  with 
the  modern  theory  of  a  Church  of  the  future  in  the  flesh  on 
«arth,  victorious  over  the  world  before  her  Lord's  return? 
Y.  Again,  as  the  state  of  the  Church  is  uniformly 
described  in  the  New  Testament  as  one  of  rejection  and 
humiliation  until  her  Lord  shall  come,  so  also  do  the  same 
Scriptures  describe  the  state  of  the  world  during  the  same 
period,  in  terms  which  are  simply  exclusive  of  any  general 
conversion  of  the  world  to  the  true  faith  prior  to  the  Ad- 
vent.  This  gospel  of  the  Kingdom,  saith  the  Saviour,  shall 
indeed  be  preached  in  all  the  world — but  why  ?  For  the  con 


CHRIST 8  COMING  :    IS  IT  PRE-MILLENNIAL.         65 

version  of  the  world  ?  That  is  not  what  He  says,  but  "  for  a 
witness."  And  may  not  that  witnessing  go  on  until  all 
the  ends  of  the  earth  shall  hear  and  also  obey  Him?  That 
again  is  not  what  He  says,  but  rather  when  this  witness 
shall  have  reached  all  nations,  "  then  shall  the  end  come." 
Matt.  24:14.  Thus  also  in  the  parable  of  the  sower, 
which  sets  forth  the  various  results  of  the  preached  word  as 
historically  experienced  until  the  present  time,  we  have  not 
the  slightest  hint  of  a  time  when  this  parable  shall  no 
longer  be  a  correct  description  of  the  various  results  of  the 
ministration  of  the  Gospel.  Of  a  time  when  the  seed 
shall  all  come  up,  when  birds  shall  no  more  pick  up  the 
seed,  nor  thorns  spring  up  and  choke  it,  nor  the  heat  of 
persecution  burn  it,  the  parable  does  not  contain  the 
slightest  intimation.  If  any  one  will  say  that  this  is 
merely  a  negative  argument,  we  have  only  to  read  further 
on  the  parable  of  the  tares  and  wheat.  In  this  latter 
parable,  as  expounded  for  us  by  the  Saviour  Himself,  we 
are  explicitly  taught  that  the  tares,  or  children  of  the 
wicked  one,  are  to  exist  in  the  world  along  with  the 
wheat,  or  children  of  the  Kingdom:  that  the  two  are  to 
grow  and  develop  together,  each  after  its  own  peculiar 
manner  until  the  end  of  the  aio  or  age.  The  Lord  indeed 
represents  the  servants  of  the  landholder  as  proposing  to 
do  away  with  this  unsatisfactory  state  of  things;  but  they 
are  answered  at  once  in  terms  which  one  would  think  had 
been  quite  sufficient  to  preclude  forever  any  hope  of  any 
radical  spiritual  change  in  the  condition  of  the  world 
before  the  Lord's  return.  Let  both  grow  together  till  the 
harvest.  And  the  harvest,  we  are  told,  is  the  end  of  the 
world  or  age.  Where  does  this  parable  leave  any  place  for 
the  interposition  of  centuries  of  a  universal  conversion  of 
the  world  to  God  before  the  Lord  shall  come?  It  tells  us 
indeed  of  a  growth  of  the  wheat  progressing  until  the  har- 
5 


66  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

vest;  it  therefore,  in  perfect  consistence  with  the  foregoing 
parable  of  the  leaven  (if  that  be  taken  to  represent  a  contin- 
uous growth  of  the  Church  in  the  world),  suggests  the 
expectation  of  a  fuller  and  fuller  growth  in  the  true  and 
invisible  Church  as  the  centuries  roll  on,  until  the  Lord 
shall  come;  it  therefore  forbids  us  to  join  in  those  incon- 
siderate and  mistaken  representations  which  one  some- 
times hears,  as  if  the  Saviour  taught  that  there  was  nothing 
in  the  future  of  the  history  of  the  world  but  a  development 
of  sin.  But  at  the  same  time,  if  the  parable  forbids  us  to 
deny  a  continuous  growth  of  the  spiritual  Church  into 
•fuller  and  fuller  fruit  bearing,  just  as  distinctly  does  it  for- 
bid us  to  expect  that  the  wheat  shall  so  grow  and  increase 
as  to  choke  out  the  tares.  Just  as  clearly  as  the  words  of 
the  Lord  point  to  a  spiritual  development  in  the  Church, 
just  so  clearly  do  they  teach  us  to  expect  along  with  this  a 
continuous  development  of  sin  in  the  world,  reaching  its 
final  culmination  at  the  same  time  as  .the  other.  The 
wheat  and  the  tares  are  both  to  "grow  together  till  the 
harvest,"  the  end  of  the  ^Eon  and  the  appearing  of  the  Son 
of  Man.  How,  with  an  ever  increasing  growth  of  evil  in 
antagonism  to  a  growing  Church,  we  are  to  find  any  place 
for  a  Millennium  of  universal  righteousness  and  peace,  we 
must  leave  to  others  to  explain.  In  entire  agreement  with 
the  teaching  of  this  parable  as  to  the  matter  before  us  is 
the  parable  of  the  nobleman  who  went  into  a  far  country, 
as  recorded  in  Luke  19:12-27.  In  that  parable  the  Lord 
represents  Himself,  soon  to  depart  from  this  world  to  the 
Father,  as  a  nobleman  who  went  into  a  far  country  to 
receive  for  himself  a  kingdom  and  to  return.  During  his 
absence,  we  are  told  there  is  a  great  difference  in  the  con- 
duct even  of  his  servants;  some  are  more  faithful,  some 
are  less  so;  some  are  grossly  neglectful  of  their  duty;  out- 
side of  his  own  household,  his  citizens,  we  are  told,  hated 


CHRIST'S  COMING  :  IS  IT  PEE  MILLENNIAL.        67 

him,  and  angrily  repudiated  his  dominion.  After  a  while 
he  returns,  rewards  his  servants  according  to  their  several 
works,  and  visits  the  rebel  citizens,  who  would  none  of  his 
rule,  with  a  fearful  punishment.  The  time  of  the  noble- 
man's return,  by  universal  consent,  refers  to  the  second 
coming  of  the  Son  of  Man  for  the  great  work  of  judgment. 
This  is  plain  because  it  is  the  time  when  the  loyal  and  the 
rebellious  alike  receive  their  reward.  Here,  then,  we  are  to 
observe  again  that  the  parable  does  not  give  us  the  slight- 
est hint  that  there  was  any  change  in  the  attitude  of  the 
rebellious  citizens  during  the  whole  period  of  the  absence 
of  the  king.  But  is  it  not  plain  that  if  the  modern  theory 
of  a  universal  turning  of  the  nations  unto  God  before  the 
coming  of  the  Lord  were  true,  we  must  needs  have  had,  in 
this  parable,  a  very  different  picture?  "We  should  have 
rather  read  that  at  last  through  the  earnest  labors  of  the 
servants  of  the  nobleman,  the  most,  at  least,  of  the  rebel- 
lious citizens  were  led  to  submit  to  that  rule  which  at  first 
they  had  rejected,  and  become  loyal  subjects  of  the  coming 
king?  But  that  is  not  what  the  parable  teaches.  And  if 
not,  then  the  question  is  at  once  forced  upon  us — How 
with  the  mass  of  men  remaining  as  in  the  imagery  of  the 
parable,  at  enmity  to  the  Lord  and  His  Christ,  we  are  to 
find  time  or  place  for  a  thousand  years  of  millennial  peace? 

THE   PERIOD   BEFORE   THE    SECOND    ADVENT. 

But  we  may  advance  yet  further.  Not  only  do  the  Scrip- 
tures of  the  New  Testament  give  these  representations  of 
the  general  state  of  things  in  the  world  during  the  period 
between  the  first  and  second  coming  of  the  Lord;  not  only 
do  they  speak  of  no  general  improvement  to  be  expected 
before  the  Lord  shall  come,  as  the  time  of  His  second 
appearing  approaches,  but  in  several  passages  we  have  the 
most  formal  and  didactic  statements  that  "  the  last  times  " 


68  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

shall  not  be  good,  but  evil  times.  To  this  fact  we  have  no 
exception.  Thus  in  1  Timothy  we  read  as  follows:  "  The 
Spirit  speaketh  expressly  that  in  the  latter  times  some  shall 
depart  from  the  faith,  giving  heed  to  seducing  spirits  and 
doctrines  of  devils."  In  2  Timothy  3  :  1,  5,  we  read  again: 
"  This  know  also,  that  in  the  last  days  perilous  times  shall 
come.  For  men  shall  be  lovers  of  their  own  selves,  covet- 
ous, boasters,  proud  blasphemers,  disobedient  to  parents, 
unthankful,  unholy,  without  natural  affection,  truce-break- 
ers, false  accusers,  incontinent,  fierce,  despisers  of  those 
that  are  good,  traitors,  heady,  high  minded,  lovers  of 
pleasures  more  than  lovers  of  God ;  having  a  form  of  god- 
liness but  denying  the  power  thereof."  To  the  same  effect 
writes  also  the  Apostle  Peter,  (2  Peter  3  :  2,  5),  wherein 
he  charges  the  Christians  of  that  day  that  they  "  be  mind- 
ful "  of  the  words  of  the  prophets  on  this  subject,  who 
had  so  warned  the  Church  that  in  the  last  days  there  should 
come  "  scoffers,  walking  after  their  own  lusts,  and  saying, 
where  is  the  promise  of  His  coming?"  So,  also,  the 
Apostle  John  declares,  in  so  many  words  (1  John  2  :  18), 
that  the  prevalence  of  many  Anti-christs  was  a  sign  of  the 
last  time.  If  it  be  the  truth  of  God  that  the  latter  days 
before  the  Advent  are  to  be  distinguished  by  a  period  of 
universally  prevailing  holiness,  such  as  is  described  in  the 
glowing  language  of  the  Old  Testament  Prophets,  how 
are  we  to  account  for  it  that  the  writers  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, in  all  their  description  of  the  last  times,  never  once 
describe  them  in  such,  terms,  but  always  as  times  in  the 
last  degree  perilous  to  souls?  And  in  view  of  the  expecta- 
tions which  so  generally  prevail  in  our  day  as  to  the  com- 
ing of  a  golden  age  of  peace  on  earth  before  the  coming 
of  the  Lord,  there  is  a  most  solemn  significance  in  the  very 
peculiar  emphasis  of  such  phrases  as  introduce  these  im- 
pressive descriptions  of  the  state  of  the  world  in  the  last 


CHKISTS  COMING  :   18  IT  PRE-MILLENNIAL.        69 

days.  The  Spirit  speaketh  expressly :  "  This  know,  that 
in  the  last  days  perilous  times  shall  come;  I  stir  up  your 
pure  minds  by  way  of  remembrance,  that  ye  may  be  mind- 
ful of  the  words  which  were  spoken  before  by  the  holy 
prophets,  and  of  the  commandments  of  us,  the  apostles  of 
our  Lord  and  Saviour."  And  can  we  forget  that  the 
Apostle  warns  the  Church  that,  when  at  at  last  the  Lord 
should  corne,  He  would  find  men  not  expecting  Him,  but 
looking  forward  to  years  of  peace  and  safety?  (1  Thess. 
5:3.)  Nor  can  the  argument  derived  from  these  descrip- 
tions of  the  character  of  the  last  times  be  evaded  by  refer- 
ring them  to  that  short  period  after  the  so-called  Millen- 
nium, when,  according  to  the  Scriptures,  Satan  is  to  be 
loosed  for  a  little  season,  for  more  than  one  of  these 
descriptions  of  the  latter  days  represent  evil  as  continuing  to 
rule  throughout  all  time  until  the  Advent  of  the  Lord.  Thus, 
for  example,  John,  when  declaring  that  the  prevalence  of 
many  Anti-christs  was  a  sign  of  the  last  time,  tells  us,  also, 
that  that  sign  had  already  begun  to  be  fulfilled  in  his  own 
day.  Of  especial  importance,  in  this  connection,  is  the 
account  which  the  Apostle  Paul  gives,  in  2  Thess.  2  :  1-8, 
of  the  rise,  development,  and  final  destruction  of  the  apos- 
tasy and  the  Man  of  Sin,  as  covering  the  whole  time  from 
the  date  of  that  epistle  to  the  appearing  of  the  Lord.  In 
that  notable  passage,  he  tells  the  Thessalonians  that  the 
mystery  of  iniquity  was  already  working,  even  in  their 
day;  that  something,  which  he  does  not  precisely  indicate, 
was  at  that  time  hindering  the  full  manifestation  of  the 
apostasy ;  that  when  that  hindrance  should  be  taken  out  of 
the  way,  then  the  Man  of  Sin  would  be  revealed,  and  con- 
tinue his  blaspheming  and  God-defying  career  until 
destroyed  by  the  brightness  of  the  coming  of  the  Lord.  It 
will  be  very  clear  to  all  that,  if  by  the  phrase,  "  the  coming 
of  the  Lord,"  in  this  chapter,  we  are  to  understand  His 


TO  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

personal  appearing — which  the  whole  Church  expect  as 
certainly  in  the  future — then  beyond  all  doubt,  as  the  rise, 
development,  and  culmination  of  the  apostasy  cover  the 
whole  time  from  the  date  of  that  epistle  to  the  coming  of 
the  Lord,  it  is  perfectly  certain  that,  during  that  period, 
there  can  be  no  conversion  of  the  world. 

Does  Paul,  then,  in  this  passage  certainly  refer  to  the 
personal  appearing  of  the  Lord?  In  determining  the 
answer  to  this  question,  observe  first  of  all  that  the  Greek 
word  parousia,  here  rendered  "  coming,"  in  every  other  of 
the  twenty-four  places  in'  which  it  occurs  confessedly 
denotes  a  real,  literal,  and  not  a  figurative  presence  of  the 
person  referred  to.  Thus,  for  example,  in  1  Cor.  16:17, 
Paul  writes  that  he  was  "  glad  of  the  coming  of  Stephanas." 
In  2  Cor.  7:7,  we  read  that  "  some  said  that  the  apostle 
was  in  bodily  presence  (parousia)  weak.  So  also  it  is  con- 
fessedly the  word  which  is  elsewhere  used  to  denote  the 
personal  return  of  the  Lord  to  this  world,  in  passages  where 
no  one  has  ever  claimed  that  there  was  the  slightest  ambig- 
uity. Thus  we  read  in  1  Cor.  15:23,  that  "the  dead  in 
Christ  shall  rise  from  the  dead  at  His  coming."  In  the 
first  epistle  to  the  Thessalonians  the  word  occurs  four  times, 
and  in  each  instance  it  is  admitted  to  refer  to  the  personal 
advent  of  the  Lord.  In  1  Thess.  4: 15  and  23,  it  is  used  in 
connection  with  the  apostle's  statements  as  to  the  resur- 
rection of  the  righteous  and  the  translation  of  the  living 
at  the  Coming  of  the  Lord.  In  the  face  of  such  facts  as 
these,  to  affirm  that  the  word  only  refers  to  a  so-called 
presence  or  coming  of  the  Lord  by  the  power  of  His 
Spirit,  is  simply  to  set  at  naught  every  rule  of  sound 
exegesis.  Of  this  alleged  meaning  of  the  word  it  is  safe 
to  say  that  not  a  single  example  can  be  shown  in  the  whole 
New  Testament. 

Hence,  again,  all  agree  that  there  can  be  no  Millennium 


CHRIST'S  COMING :   IS  IT  PRE-MILLENNIAL.        71 

of  holiness  so  long  as  the  Jewish  Nation  remains  cast  out 
in  unbelief.  Do  the  Scriptures  say  anything  upon  that 
subject  which  may  throw  any  light  upon  the  question 
before  us?  In  Matt.  24:15-20,  all  agree  that  we  have  a 
prophecy  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Romans, 
and  the  consequent  scattering  of  the .  Jews  among  all 
nations,  which  has  been  historically  fulfilled.  And  it  is 
important  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  prediction  in  question, 
which  our  Lord  calls  the  "  great  tribulation,"  comprised 
not  only  the  destruction  of  the  Jewish  capital,  as  is  often 
a&sumed,  but,  according  to  Luke's  account  of  the  same 
discourse  (Luke  21:24),  was  to  continue,  and  is,  in  fact, 
still  continuing  in  the  "Treading  down  of  Jerusalem  by 
the  Gentiles,  till  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  be  fulfilled." 
Keeping  this  in  mind,  we  are  now  prepared  to  understand 
the  words  in  Matthew's  gospel,  which  tell  us  in  so  many 
words  that  "  Immediately  after  the  tribulation  of  those 
days  shall  the  sun  be  darkened,  and  then  shall  all  the  tribes 
of  the  earth  mourn,  and  they  shall  see  the  Son  of  Man 
coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  with  power  and  great 
glory."  That  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man  here  referred 
to  can  not  be  the  so-called  providential  coming  of  the  Son 
of  Man  in  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Roman 
armies,  as  some  have  maintained,  is  plain,  from  the  simple 
fact  that  the  coming  here  spoken  of  is  expressly  said  to  be 
after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and,  indeed,  after  the 
whole  long  tribulation  of  the  centuries,  and,  therefore,  can 
not  be  the  same  thing.  Nay,  it  follows  from  the  very 
terms  of  the  prophecy,  that  this  Coming,  of  whatsoever 
sort  it  be,  must  still  be  in  the  future.  In  fact,  it  were  easy 
to  show  that  this  phrase,  the  Coming  of  the  Son  of  Man 
in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  first  used  in  the  book  of  Daniel, 
has  a  meaning  perfectly  definite  and  fixed.  It  is  by  com- 
mon consent  the  phrase  which  is  everywhere  used  to  denote 


SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


the  future  personal  advent  of  the  Lord  for  judgment.  And 
hence  it  seems  unavoidably  to  follow  that  whenever  the 
long  captivity  of  Israel  shall  end  —  as  to  the  time  of  which 
the  passage  gives  us  not  the  slightest  hint  —  immediately 
after  that  shall  appear  the  solemn  signs  which  at  last 
announce  the  near  appearing  of  the  Son  of  Man.  Where, 
then,  according  to  this  passage,  does  this  prophecy  leave  any 
room  for  centuries  of  universal  righteousness  after  Israel's 
conversion,  and  before  the  appearing  of  the  Son  of  Man? 

Once  again,  instead  of  representing  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ  as  triumphant  in  the  earth  before  the  Coming  of  the 
Lord,  in  several  places  the  word  of  God  explicitly  sets 
forth  the  triumph  of  that  Kingdom  as  synchronous  with 
the  glorious  appearing.  We  may  refer  to  one  notable 
example.  No  words  of  the  Scripture  are  more  frequently 
referred  to  as  precisely  expressing  the  object  which  every 
Christian  heart  desires  than  these  —  "  the  Kingdoms  of  this 
world  are  become  the  Kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  His 
Christ."  But  when  we  look  at  the  context  in  which  these 
words  occur,  we  find  that  this  glorious  event,  instead  of 
taking  place  centuries  before  the  Coming  of  the  Lord,  is- 
expressly  said  to  be  synchronous  with  that  event.  For  we 
read,  Kev.  11:15-18,  that  it  was  on  the  sounding  of  the 
seventh  trumpet,  in  which  we  are  elsewhere  told  that  the 
mystery  of  God  should  be  finished,  that  great  voices  in 
heaven  cried  "  the  Kingdoms  of  the  world  are  become  the 
Kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  of  His  Christ."  Immediately 
the  four  and  twenty  elders  gave  thanks  to  God  that  He 
had  "  taken  to  Himself  His  great  power  and  reigned,"  and 
then  say  "  the  nations  were  angry,  and  Thy  wrath  is  come, 
and  the  time  of  the  dead,  that  they  should  be  judged,  and 
that  Thou  shouldst  give  reward  unto  Thy  servants,  the 
prophets,  and  to  them  that  fear  Thy  name,  small  and  great  ;. 
and  shouldst  destroy  them  that  destroy  the  earth." 


CHRIST'S  COMING:    IS  IT  PRE-MILLENNIAL.         73- 


DOCTRINE    OF    THE    PRIMITIVE    CHURCH. 

But  the  limits  of  this  paper  will  not  permit  anything 
like  an  exhaustive  exhibition  of  the  Scripture  testimony 
upon  this  subject.  As  the  history  of  this  doctrine  is  to  be 
presented  in  another  paper,  we  need  only  to  remark  on 
this  occasion  that  the  doctrine  which  has  been  argued  in  • 
this  paper,  according  to  the  uniform  testimony  of  the  best 
church  historians,  was  the  doctrine  of  the  primitive  Church. 
In  the  first  two  centuries  of  the  Church's  history,  cen- 
turies distinguished  above  all  others  for  their  record  of 
evangelistic  zeal  and  activity,  there  is  not  the  slightest  hint 
that  the  Church  was  expecting  any  general  conversion  of 
the  world  to  follow  as  the  result  of  her  glorious  labors  and 
sufferings.  A  careful  comparison  of  Scripture  with  Scrip- 
ture brings  us  out  in  accord  with  the  practical  belief  of 
the  whole  primitive  Church.  Ought  not  this,  whatever 
difficulties,  through  our  ignorance  of  the  future,  may  still 
remain,  to  lead  us  to  accept  the  results  of  that  exegesis? 
Are  we  not,  therefore,  bound  to  conclude  that  the  Advent 
of  the  Lord  is  to  be  regarded  by  us  always  as  immediately 
impending,  and,  therefore,  that  we  are  not  at  liberty  to 
interpose  between  the  present  and  that  event  any  period  of 
time  which  shall  make  the  coming  of  the  Lord  in  our  own 
day  a  thing  impossible?  And  if  this  be  not  a  popular 
doctrine,  in  the  boasting  and  self-sufficient  age  in  which 
we  live;  if,  which  is  still  harder,  in  taking  this  posi- 
tion we  are  compelled  to  differ  with  many  Christian  breth- 
ren and  profound  students  of  the  word  of  God,  who  are  by 
us,  none  the  less  for  this  difference  of  opinion,  honored 
and  beloved  in  Christ  Jesus,  yet  it  may  help  us  to  remem- 
ber that,  on  this  point,  we  stand  with  such  men  in  the  Church 
as  Martin  Luther,  Rutherford,  Latimer,  with  a  large  part 
of  the  divines  of  the  venerable  Westminster  assembly,  and 


SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


many  others  of  equal  standing  in  the  Church  of  Christ. 
And,  if  we  may  be  permitted  to  refer  to  those  who,  in  our 
own  day,  hold  to  what  seems  to  us  to  be  the  primitive  and 
apostolic  faith  upon  this  subject,  we  shall  find  them  not  by 
any  means  among  the  ignorant  and  superficial,  but  most 
notably  among  those  who,  by  common  consent,  hold  the 
very  highest  place  as  learned  and  devout  expositors  and 
preachers  of  God's  word.  "We  shall  find  ourselves  in  such 
company,  for  example,  as  Stier,  Auberien,  Luthardt  and 
Lange,  among  the  Germans;  Professor  Godet,  of  Lausanne, 
among  the  French;  Bishops  Trench  and  Ellicott,  Dean 
Alford,  Mr.  Spurgeon,  and  others,  among  the  English; 
the  brothers  Andrew  and  Horatius  Bonar,  among  the 
Scotch;  Yan  Oosterzee,  Professor  of  Theology  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Utrecht,  among  the  Dutch  —  not  to  speak  at  this 
time  of  well-known  names  among  the  living  and  the  dead 
in  our  own  country. 

With  this  we  might  leave  the  subject,  but  perhaps  it 
may  not  be  amiss  to  refer  to  two  or  three  of  the  more  com- 
mon and  plausible  objections  to  the  doctrine  which  we  have 
argued. 

A  very  common  and  somewhat  influential  objection  to 
the  doctrine  before  us  is  that  it  "  disparages  the  Gospel," 
in  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Pre-Millennial  Advent  makes 
the  subjection  of  the  world  to  Christ  to  be  brought  about 
by  a  stupendous  display  of  the  Divine  wrath  on  the  ungodly. 
On  which  has  been  remarked:  "  Wrath  never  converted  a 
single  soul,  and  never  will." 

To  this  it  may  be  remarked  in  the  first  place,  that  the 
objection  rests  on  a  misapprehension.  Beyond  all  question 
the  Gospel  heard  and  received  by  faith  is  the  only  way  of 
a  sinner's  salvation,  whether  in  this  present  dispensation  or 
in  any  other.  Nor,  to  go  further,  will  any  son  of  man  ever 
receive  the  Gospel  except  as  he  is  thereunto  disposed  and 


CHRIST'S  COMING:  IS  IT  FEE-MILLENNIAL.        75 

enabled  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  But  the  real  question  is  not 
upon  these  matters  at  all.  Here  we  are  all  at  one.  "We 
shall  all  agree  that  "  wrath  never  converted  a  single  soul." 
The  real  question  is  as  to  the  special  means  which  God 
intends  to  employ  to  introduce  the  Kingdom  of  His  Son. 
While  neither  wrath  nor  the  Gospel  itself,  apart  from  the 
energy  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  can  save  a  man,  yet  as  a  matter 
of  fact  see  that  God  often  makes  use  of  wrath  and  various 
sorrows  to  awaken  men  and  dispose  them  under  the  influ- 
ences of  the  Spirit  to  receive  the  Gospel  in  true  faith. 
Xow,  the  Pre-Millennialist  simply  understands  that  He 
intends  to  bring  about  the  final  subjection  of  the  world  to 
the  Lord  Jesus  instrumentally  by  unprecedented  displays 
of  His  wrath,  and  most  notably  by  the  revelation  of  the 
Lord  in  flaming  fire,  taking  vengeance  on  His  adversaries. 
As  to  what  may  be  the  Divine  intention  in  the  matter,  it 
is  plain  that  we  are  not  competent  to  determine  this  a 
priori.  This  is  simply  a  question  as  to  what  the  word  of 
God  reveals  on  this  subject.  It  will  be,  for  the  present,  suf- 
ficient to  remark  that  there  is  an  awful  uniformity  and 
emphasis  in  the  numerous  representations  of  the  word  of 
God  upon  this  topic. 

But,  it  is  again  urged  by  many  good  and  earnest  Christian 
men,  that  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  greatest  extrava- 
gancies and  many  very  grievous  errors  in  doctrine  and 
practice  have  historically  connected  themselves  with  this 
doctrine  of  an  advent  ever  possibly  imminent.  Thus  there 
are  many,  who,  rightly  jealous  for  the  integrity  of  the 
faith,  think  that  they  can  see  in  the  train  of  this  doctrine 
annihilationalism,  restorationism,  separatism,  and  a  name- 
less motley  brood  of  such-like  hurtful  heresies  pressing  in 
to  disturb  the  peace  and  purity  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 
They  accordingly  argue  that  whatever  a  man  may  hold 
upon  this  subject,  if  he  is  prudent  he  will  hold  it  in  quiet- 


76  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

ness.  All  admit  that  the  reception  of  the  doctrine  as 
argued  at  this  time  is  not  essential  to  salvation.  Why, 
then,  not  prudently  leave  the  whole  question  alone?  To 
which  we  answer — Just  because  of  the  extravagancies  of 
which  complaint  has  so  justly  been  made.  Had  the  Church 
been  more  faithful  of  late  years  in  preaching  the  ascertained 
truth  of  the  Scriptures  concerning  this  subject,  we  should 
have  probably  had  less  to  mourn  over  in  this  matter.  As 
it  is,  all  the  more  need  is  there  that  trained  students  of  the 
Scriptures,  well  balanced  and  settled  in  the  doctrine  of  the 
Scriptures  and  disciplined  in  the  interpretation  of  the 
Scriptures,  should  not  leave  this  most  momentous  doctrine 
to  be  preached  only  by  ignorant,  ill-instructed,  and 
fanatical  men.  For  what  are  the  ministers  of  the  word 
appointed  but  for  the  defence  of  the  truth  of  God  from 
error  and  misinterpretation?  Is  it  defending  the  truth, 
under  a  mistaken  prudence  to  leave  difficult  doctrines  to 
be  discussed  and  preached  by  incompetent  men?  Because 
many,  for  example,  pervert  the  precious  doctrine  of  justifi- 
cation by  faith  alone  into  antinomian  licentiousness,  are 
we  therefore  to  be  cautious  about  preaching  a  free  justifica- 
tion? Is  there  not  all  fhe  more  need  that  we  preach  the 
truth  which  is  most  often  and  mischievously  misunder- 
stood and  thus  labor  against  the  abuse  of  the  doctrines  of 
the  word  of  God  at  the  hands  of  ignorant  and  fanatical 
men?  How  are  the  most  of  men  who  have  little  leisure  to 
study  the  Bible  for  themselves,  to  learn  to  distinguish  the 
truth  of  the  word  of  God  from  the  caricatures  of  that 
truth,  except  from  the  lips  of  any  who,  set  apart  by  the 
Church  to  study  and  teach  the  word,  by  the  grace  of  God 
may  be  enabled  to  state  and  hold  that  truth  free  from  the 
distortions  and  perversions  of  ignorance? 

With  this  we  conclude  our  consideration  of  this  most 
momentous  question.     In  holding  the  doctrine  which  we 


CHRIST'S  COMING :   IS  IT  PRE-MILLENNIAL.         77 

have  argued  we  admit  that  many  things  remain  obscure, 
that  many  questions  may  be  put  which  in  the  present  state 
of  our  knowledge  w.e  may  not  be  able  to  answer.  But,  in 
general,  we  may  urge  that  this  fact  does  not  prove  the 
doctrine  not  to  be  taught  in  the  Scriptures.  It  is  of 
the  greatest  importance  to  bear  in  mind  the  principle 
which  is  laid  down  by  the  late  venerable  Dr.  Hodge, 
p.  527,  vol.  II,  of  his  Theology:  "The  only  legitimate 
method  of  controverting  a  doctrine  which  purports  to  be 
founded  on  the  Scripture  is  the  exegetical."  Thus  in 
regard  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Pre-Millennial  Advent,  as 
every  doctrine  is  affirmed  to  be  taught  in  the  Bible, 
objectors  are  bound  not  merely  to  make  objections  and  ask 
hard  questions,  but  in  particular  to  show  by  the  acknowl- 
edged canons  of  interpretation,  that  the  passages  which 
have  been  cited  as  directly  or  indirectly  forbidding  the 
expectation  of  an  era  of  universal  peace  and  righteousness 
before  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  have  been  misunderstood 
and  misinterpreted.  Otherwise  they  have  to  show  for 
example  how  a  millennium  is  possible  with  an  apostasy 
steadily  developing  from  the  days  of  the  Apostles  until  the 
"  Brightness  of  the  Lord's  coming."  Or  again  they  have  to 
show  how  a  millennium  is  possible  with  the  great  Jewish 
Tribulation  still  continuing,  of  which  we  are  told  that 
"  immediately  after  its  completion  the  Son  of  Man  is  to  be 
seen  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven  to  gather  together 
His  Elect."  They  have  to  show  how  it  is  possible,  if  it  be 
really  certain  that  at  least  a  thousand  years  of  universal 
peace  still  lies  between  us  and  the  Advent,  for  believers 
to  watch  for  the  coming  of  the  Lord.  But  finally,  let  us 
remember  that  whatsoever  our  views  may  be,  it  must  cer- 
tainly be  safe  to  obey  Him  who  again  and  again  has 
charged  us  to  "  Watch,  because  we  know  not  the  day  nor 
the  hour  when  the  Son  of  Man  cometh."  To  this  may  the 
Lord  give  us  all  His  grace. 


78  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


THE  FIEST  KESURKEOTIOK 

BY  THE  REV.  DR.    A.  J.   GORDON,   OF  THE  CLARENDON  STREET  BAPTIST 
CHURCH,    BOSTON,    MASS. 

THERE  are  two  distinct  and  radically  opposite  theories 
concerning  the  order  of  the  resurrection,  viz.:  the  theory 
which  maintains  that  all  the  dead,  the  righteous  and  the 
unrighteous,  will  be  raised  at. the  same  time;  and  secondly, 
the  theory  which  holds  that  the  faithful  dead  only  will  rise 
at  the  coining  of  Christ,  those  who  have  died  in  unbelief 
remaining  under  the  power  of  death  for  a  thousand  years 
longer,  at  the  expiration  of  which  time  they  in  turn  will 
be  raised  up  and  brought  to  judgment.  In  brief,  the  first 
theory  is  that  of  one  resurrection,  embracing  as  its  subjects 
all  who  have  died  from  the  beginning  of  the  world  to  the 
hour  of  the  sounding  of  the  last  trumpet;  and  the  second,  that 
of  two  resurrections,  distinctly  separated  in  time,  and  totally 
different,  both  in  respect  to  their  subjects  and  their  issues. 
It  will  be  the  aim  of  this  paper  to  show  the  ground  on 
which  the  latter  view  rests,  and  to  defend  with  what  ability 
we  may  be  able  to  command,  the  theory  which  it  presents. 
It  being  purely  a  question  of  interpretation,  we  shall  make 
our  appeal  solely  to  the  word  of  God,  though  we  might 
commend  the  doctrine  very  strongly  by  showing  its  anti- 
quity and  arraying  the  great  names  from  all  ages  and 
branches  of  the  Church  who  have  lent  to  it  the  sanction  of 
their  scholarship.  The  first  passage  which  we  shall  con- 
sider is  that  in  Rev.  20 : 4-6 : 

And  I  saw  thrones,  and  they  sat  upon  them,  and  judgment  was  given 
unto  them:  and  /  saw  the  souls  of  them  that  were  beheaded  for  the 
witness  of  Jesus,  and  for  the  word  of  God,  and  which  had  not  wor- 


THE  FIRST  RESURRECTION. 


shipped  the  beast,  neither  his  image,  neither  had  received  his  mark 
upon  their  foreheads,  or  in  their  hands;  and  they  lived  and  reigned 
with  Christ  a  thousand  years. 

But  the  rest  of  the  dead  lived  not  again  until  the  thousand  years  were 
finished.  This  is  the  first  resurrection. 

Blessed  and  holy  is  he  that  hath  part  in  the  first  resurrection:  on 
such  the  second  death  hath  no  power,  but  they  shall  be  priests  of  God 
and  of  Christ,  and  shall  reign  with  him  a  thousand  years. 

Now,  it  would  seem  on  the  face  of  it  that  here  is  an 
unmistakable  statement  of  two  distinct  resurrections  of  the 
dead,  with  a  thousand  years  between,  in  which  risen 
saints  reign  with  Christ.  But  by  a  large  class  of  inter- 
preters this  is  denied.  It  belongs  to  a  book  that  is  highly 
figurative,  it  is  said,  and,  therefore,  the  statement  must  be 
taken  in  a  strictly  figurative  sense.  Hence  the  whole 
scene  has  been  spiritualized,  the  death,  the  resurrection 
and  the  reign  with  Christ,  and  the  representation  made  to 
apply  not  to  bodily  resurrection  at  all,  but  to  the  quicken- 
ing from  the  death  of  sin. 

Not  for  the  sake  of  controversy,  but  in  order  to  present 
in  the  fairest  and  most  candid  way  the  view  of  the  passage 
most  commonly  held  by  the  believers  in  one  resurrection,. 
I  transcribe  the  comment  of  Bishop  Wordsworth  on  the 
text  as  given  in  his  Lectures  on  the  Apocalypse.  If  we 
shall  succeed  in  answering  him  we  shall  have  answered  the 
largest  and  best  class  of  anti-literal  interpreters.*  He  say& 
on  the  passage: 

First  let  us  observe  that  the  words  are  not  spoken  of  the  bodies  of  the 
saints  but  of  their  souls.  "  I  saw  the  souls  of  them  who  have  been 
,  beheaded  for  the  witness  of  Jesus."  This  must  be  carefully  borne  in 
rnind,  because  the  error  of  the  Millennarians  is  mainly  due  to  a  neglect 
of  this  distinction.  They  imagine  a  bodily  resurrection,  whereas  St. 
John  speaks  of  a  spiritual  one.  Secondly,  it  is  not  said  in  the  original 
that  their  souls  lived  again^ut  that  they  lived  and  reigned  with  Christ. 

*  He  quotes  Bishop  Andrews,  Archbishop  Leighton,  Lightfoot,  and 
others  as  holding  the  same  view. 


$0  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

It  is  clear,  then,  that  what  is  here  said  is  spoken  not  of  a  corporeal,  but 
of  a  spiritual  resurrection.  Thirdly,  it  is  not  said  that  Christ  reigns 
with  his  saints,  but  that  they  reign  with  Him.  He  is  in  heaven  and 
will  there  remain  till  He  comes  to  judge,  when  all  true  believers  will  be 
•caught  up  to  meet  Him  in  the  air.  Therefore,  what  is  here  said  is 
spoken  not  of  an  earthly  but  of  a  heavenly  resurrection.  And  what 

now  is  the  spiritual  resurrection  of  the  Christian? Our 

natural  condition  is  one  of  death.  By  nature  we  are  spiritually  dead; 
but  Christ,  who  is  the  prince  of  life,  hath  quickened  us  who  are  dead  in 
trespasses  and  sins.  Therefore,  our  first  or  spiritual  resurrection  is 
our  death  to  sin  and  new  birth  into  righteousness— it  is  our  engrafting 
into  the  true  vine,  our  incorporation  into  the  body  of  Christ."  Lec- 
tures on  the  Apocalypse,  pp.  58-9. 

We  wish,  against  this  interpretation,  to  show  why,  in  our 
view,  the  first  resurrection,  as  here  described,  must  be  lit- 
•eral  and  corporeal,  and  not  spiritual.  And  in  doing  so  we 
would  emphasize  just  the  points  that  Dr.  Wordsworth 
-emphasizes. 

First — John  saw  "the  souls  of  them  who  had  been 
beheaded."  As  the  word,  irenefoiua/uvw  beheaded,  unhappily 
can  not  be  spiritualized,  we  clearly  have  men  literally 
-dead  as  the  subjects  of  the  quickening.  And,  therefore, 
we  infer  at  once  that  the  quickening  is  a  literal  quickening. 
When,  as  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  we  have  men 
described  as  "  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,"  and  then  are  told 
that  these  have  been  "  quickened  together  with  Christ,"  we 
infer  immediately  and  rightly  that  a  spiritual  revivifica- 
tion has  taken  place,  because  the  condition  on  which  the 
change  took  effect  was  spiritual.  And  so  here,  the  condi- 
tion of  literal  death  having  been  so  unmistakably  pointed 
out,  the  inference  is  immediate  and  inevitable  that  the 
quickening  is  a  literal  and  corporeal  quickening. 

Secondly — It  is  agreed  that  we  have  disembodied  spirits 
as  the  subject  of  the  vision,  and  we  are  told  that  these 
lived.  We  infer  this  meant  that  they  lived  literally  in 
reunion  with  their  bodies;  because  this  word  %wm>  is 


THE  FIRST  RESURRECTION.  81 

never  applied,  in  any  instance  that  we  can  discover  in  the 
New  Testament,  to  the  soul  in  its  disembodied  state,  while 
it  is  constantly  used  to  describe  that  reanimation  by  which 
the  soul  is  united  again  to  its  tabernacle  of  flesh.  In  say- 
ing that  the  word  is  not  used  of  the  spirit  disembodied,  we 
do  not  mean  to  intimate  the  Scriptures  teach  the  non-exist- 
ence of  souls  in  the  intermediate  state,  or  their  cessation 
from  consciousness.  But  the  truth  would  seem  to  be  that 
the  words  "  life "  and  "  live,"  as  employed  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, belong  to  man  in  his  complex  condition  as  possessed 
of  spirit  and  body  united  in  one,  and  are  not  applied  to  him 
in  his  imperfect  dissevered  state.  We  have  a  striking  illus- 
tration of  this  idea,  in  our  Lord's  discussion  with  the  Sad- 
ducees  in  regard  to  the  Resurrection.  They  held  that  there 
is  no  resurrection  of  the  body.  He  replies:  u  If  this 
were  so,  God  could  not  be  called  the  God  of  Abraham,  of 
Isaac  and  of  Jacob.  For  He  is  not  a  God  of  the  dead  but 
of  the  living."  Abraham's  soul  continued  indeed  in  a  con- 
scious existence,  but  as  Stier  puts  it,  "  Abraham's  soul 
is  not  the  entire  Abraham,  and  without  the  body  Abraham 
is  not  entirely  living.  Abraham  must  be  raised,  therefore, 
before  he  can  be  strictly  said  to  live.  So  that  as  we  have  said 
the  word  i^cav  can  not,  according  to  Scripture  usage,  be  ap- 
plied to  man  while  dispossessed  of  the  body.  That  the  word 
is  employed  to  denote  physical  reanimation  in  contrast 
from  death,  a  multitude  of  passages  show,  e.  g.,  Acts 
25-27.  And,  moreover,  the  cognate  verb  ZCJOTTOUV,  is  the 
word  that  runs  all  through  1  Cor.  15  to  signify  resurrec- 
tion from  the  dead.  So  we  affirm  that,  if  there  were  noth- 
ing else  to  determine  the  meaning  of  the  passage,  the  usus 
loquendi  of  this  verb  of  itself  would  fix  it  as  teaching  a 
literal  resurrection. 

Thirdly — Suppose,  however,  that  there  were  still  such 
obscurity  in  the  statement  as  to  render  it  impossible  clearly 
6 


SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


to  determine  its  meaning.  We  find  immediately  following 
an  explanatory  clause,  which  defines  and  fixes  this  mean- 

ing —  "afi«7  T]  avaoraaic  TJ  Kpurq."      "  This     is    Resurrection,    the 

First."  Here  is  one  of  the  few  instances  found  in  the 
Apocalypse  where  the  Spirit  interprets  His  own  words,  tell- 
ing us  explicitly  what  they  are  meant  to  convey.  For  cer- 
tainly no  word  is  more  definite  in  its  signification  than  this 
word  avaaraais.  It  occurs  forty-two  times  in  the  New 
Testament,  and,  with  one  exception,  where  it  is  used  in  its 
strictly  etymological  sense  ["  This  child  is  set  for  the  fall 
and  rising  again  of  many  in  Israel,"  Luke  2:  34],  it  always 
signifies  the  resurrection  of  the  body.  It  is  not  a  little 
strange  that  Bishop  Wordsworth  should  have  overlooked 
this  fact  when  so  confidently  identifying  this  passage  with 
those  in  Colossians  and  Ephesians  where  a  spiritual  quick- 
ening is  spoken  of.  The  term  avaaraatf  is  used  in  none  of 
those  instances,  nor  in  any  other  instance  in  the  New  Test- 
ament to  denote  spiritual  quickening.  Hence  we  affirm 
that  the  use  of  the  word  here,  as  defining  the  previous 
clause,  fixes  the  meaning  of  the  passage  beyond  question  a& 
teaching  a  literal  corporeal  resurrection.  ' 

Fourthly  —  It  will  be  noted  that  we  have  in  the  text  two 
resurrections  contrasted.  In  a  passage  closely  connected,  a 
distinction  is  drawn  between  one  class,  who  live  at  first, 
and  another  class  who  do  not  live  till  a  thousand  years  sub- 
sequent. In  the  latter  case,  from  the  immediate  connec- 
tion of  the  statement  with  the  judgment  scene,  the  opened 
books,  the  sea  giving  up  its  dead,  and  the  dead,  small  and 
great,  standing  before  God,  the  conclusion  is  inevitable  that 
the  reference  is  to  a  literal  resurrection.  Bishop  Words- 
worth admits  this,  as  do  all  the  authorities  whom  he  quotes 
in  defence  of  his  view.  And  maintaining  that  the  first 
resurrection  is  spiritual,  therefore  he  has  the  difficult  task 
before  him  of  showing  how  two  things  which  differ  entirely 


THE  FIRST  RESURRECTION. 


in  their  meaning,  can  be  described  in  the  same  connection 
by  identical  language;  so  that  in  interpreting  the  passage 
we  must  pass  from  the  spiritual  to  the  literal  and  from  the 
literal  back  to  the  spiritual  again,  with  nothing  in  the 
terms  to  indicate  or  even  suggest  the  transition.  This  we 
believe  is  too  adventurous  a  feat  of  exegesis  for  any  one  to 
succeed  in.  It  does  such  extreme  violence  to  the  natural 
and  most  obvious  uses  of  language,  that  we  believe  it  were 
far  easier  to  run  the  spiritual  interpretation  entirely 
through  the  chapter,  than  to  attempt  to  use  words  in  such 
a  flexible  and  double  sense.  The  two  resurrections  are  so 
distinctly  contrasted  and  their  descriptions  so  intimately 
blended  and  interlaced,  that  we  believe  it  is  well  nigh  im- 
possible to  take  them  in  such  opposite  senses.  The  meaning 
of  the  one  fixes  the  meaning  of  the  other.  And  to  impose 
a  directly  opposite  meaning  on  them,  can  hardly  fail  to 
awaken  a  suspicion  of  arbitrariness  against  the  interpreter, 
or  of  a  divided  allegiance  between  the  obvious  sense  of 
the  language  and  a  certain  required  sense. 

Fifthly  —  We  call  especial  attention  to  the  manner  in 
which  this  whole  Apocalyptic  scene  is  introduced:  "I  saw 
an  angel  come  down  from  heaven  having  the  key  of  the 
bottomless  pit,"  etc.  So  generally  has  this  been  taken  as 
referring  to  Christ  that  Bishop  "Wordsworth  says  too 
strongly,  "This  angel,  it  is  confessed  by  all,  is  none 
other  than  Jesus  Christ,  the  angel  of  God's  presence,  the 
angel  of  the  covenant."  But  when  does  Christ  come  down 
from  heaven?  Put  this  passage  with  that  in  Thessalo- 
nians  4:16,  the  prediction  of  Christ's  return  to  raise  His 
saints,  "The  Lord  Himself  shall  descend  from  heaven," 
says  Paul.  "I  saw  an  angel  descending  from  heaven," 
says  the  revelator,  the  words  in  the  Greek  being  precisely 
the  same.  And  if  you  say  that  the  angel  does  not  refer  to 
Christ,  but  is  to  be  taken  as  a  literal  angel,  which  we  are 


84  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

inclined  to  admit,  then  remember  that  in  Thessalonians  an 
angel  is  represented  as  accompanying  Christ  in  His 
descent  to  earth.  "  The  Lord  Himself  shall  descend  from 
heaven  with  a  shout,  with  the  voice  of  the  archangel  and 
the  trump  of  God,  and  the  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise  first." 
In  either  case  the  coincidence  of  language  is  so  striking  as 
to  identify  the  two  scenes  almost  beyond  a  question.  We 
have  thus  given  five  arguments  for  the  literal  interpreta- 
tion of  the  passage,  any  one  of  which,  it  would  seem, 
ought  to  be  sufficient  to  establish  the  point.  And  if  we 
have  answered  Bishop  Wordsworth's  theory  we  answered 
all  others  of  the  same  class;  for  to  prove  that  the  two 
resurrections  are  literal  is  to  prove  that  they  can  not  be 
spiritual — whether  in  the  sense  which  we  have  been  con- 
sidering or  in  any  other  sense. 

It  only  remains  now  for  us  to  identify  in  a  word  the 
subjects  of  these  resurrections  respectively,  and  then  we 
shall  pass  on  to  consider  other  texts.  The  words  "  blessed 
and  holy  "  applied  to  those  first  raised  from  the  dead,  and 
the  words  "  the  second  death "  as  described  by  the  doom 
•of  those  afterward  raised,  would  appear  to  fix  beyond 
question  the  two  parties  as  embracing  the  righteous  dead 
on  the  one  hand  and  the  wicked  dead  on  the  other.  But 
it  has  been  said  that,  admitting  the  first  resurrection 
to  be  literal,  it  only  proves  the  awaking  of  the  martyrs 
from  their  tombs,  since  it  is  predicted  only  of  those  who 
have  been  "beheaded  for  the  witness  of  Jesus."  To  which 
we  reply,  that  if  we  have  identified  the  "first  resurrection" 
here  mentioned,  with  "  the  resurrection  of  the  just,"  men- 
tioned in  other  Scriptures,  we  know  outside  of  this  passage 
and  independently  of  it  who  its  subjects  are.  "  The  dead 
in  Christ,"  whom  the  Apostle  names  as  rising  first  at  the 
appearing  of  the  Lord ;  and  "  they  that  are  Christ's  at  His 
coming,"  whom  he  elsewhere-  names  as  the  subjects  of  the 


THE  FIRST  RESURRECTION.  85 

same  resurrection,  every  one,  we  suppose,  concedes  to  mean 
all  the  sainted  dead  who  shall  be  in  the  grave  when  the 
Lord  comes.  So  that  if  "  the  first  resurrection,"  described 
in  the  Apocalypse,  is  the  same  as  the  resurrection  of  the 
saints  at  the  Parousia  which  is  elsewhere  described,  the 
subjects  must  be  the  same,  viz.:  all  the  faithful  dead. 
And  thus  by  supplementing  Scripture  with  Scripture,  we 
supply  whatever  knowledge  our  text  fails  to  give  in  regard 
to  the  participants  in  the  resurrection  scene.  Summing 
up  the  whole  passage,  then,  and  bringing  it  into  connection 
with  the  twelfth  verse  of  the  same  chapter,  when  the  "  rest 
of  the  dead  "  appear  in  judgment — "  I  saw  the  dead,  small 
and  great,  stand  before  God,"  we  see  how  distinctly  the 
dead  are  separated  in  their  rising  and  destiny.  There  are 
the  dead  who  live,  and  the  dead  who  do  not  live  till 
a  thousand  years  later.  There  are  the  dead  who  sit  with 
Christ  on  His  throne,  and  reign  with  Him;  there  are  the 
dead  who  stand  before  the  throne  to  be  judged.  There  are 
the  dead  who  have  immortal  bodies ;  since  upon  them  "  the 
second  death  hath  no  power."  There  are  the  dead  who 
have  mortal  bodies,  since  they  are  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire, 
which  is  the  second  death.  And,  as  clearly  as  we  discern 
these  two  distinct  classes,  so  clearly  do  we  see  a  thousand 
years  stretching  between  their  resurrections,  and  putting 
them  as  wide  apart,  in  the  time  of  their  rising,  as  in  the 
character  and  destiny  of  that  rising. 

The  next  passage  which  we  shall  consider  is  found  in  1 
Cor.  15:21-25.  uFor  as  in  Adam  all  die,  even  so  in 
Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive.  But  every  man  in  his  own 
order;  Christ  the  first  fruit,  afterward  they  that  are  Christ's 
at  His  coming.  Then  cometh  the  end,  when  He  shall  have 
delivered  up  the  Kingdom  to  God  even  the  Father;  when 
He  shall  have  put  down  all  rule  and  all  authority  and 
power." 


86  SECOND  COMING  OF 


Here  is,  in  the  first  place,  the  statement  of  the  universality 
of  the  resurrection,  "As  in  Adam  all  die,  even  so  in  Christ 
shall  all  be  made  alive."  Then  the  assertion  is  qualified  — 
eKoarof  6e  h  ru  161^  ray/Mri  —  "  but  every  man  in  his  own 
order  "  —  ra///a  meaning  bai:d,  cohort  or  division.  The 
word  is  a  military  term,  and  is  applied  for  example  to  a 
brigade  or  division  of  an  army.  So  we  have  the  figure  of 
a  resurrection  host,  coming  forth  in  solemn  arid  stately 
march  from  the  grave,  the  head  of  the  column  having 
already  appeared,  and  every  one  of  the  dead  to  follow,  each 
marshalled  in  the  corps  or  grand  division  to  which  by  his 
character  and  works  he  belongs.  Then  besides  this  intima- 
tion that  there  will  be  different  bands  in  the  army  of  the 
quickened,  there  follows  a  statement  of  their  order  and 
sequence  —  JAn-ap^  x/wardf  "  Christ  the  beginning.  'A-rrapxy 
corresponding  evidently  to  the  rdy^i.  This  is  his  rank, 
"  who  is  the  beginning  the  first  born  from  the  dead, 
that  in  all  things  he  might  have  the  pre-eminence."  He 
is  alone;  the  captain  of  our  salvation,  leading  the  van,  in 
himself  a  Host.  Then  comes  the  next  division  —  i™™  ol 
TOV  Xpiarw  —  "  Afterward,  they  that  are  Christ's  at  His 
coming."  These  are  unquestionably  identical  with  those 
mentioned  in  the  epistle  to  the  Thessalonians.  "  Ihe  dead 
in  Christ  shall  rise  first,"  and  the  same  we  believe  as  those 
in  Revelation,  who  receive  the  benediction. 

JN"ow,  the  question  may  be  asked  concerning  this  passage, 
how  do  we  know  that  this  enumeration  of  the  companies 
and  classes  embraced  in  the  resurrection  does  not  refer 
simply  to  the  consecutive  order,  without  indicating  any 
necessary  separation  in  the  time  of  the  resurrection  ?  In 
reply  to  this  question  we  would  call  attention  to  the  par- 
ticles of  sequence  here  employed  —  ^n-emz  and  hra.  We 
think  that  after  having,  by  the  use  of  rdy//a,  pointed  out 
the  fact  that  there  would  be  divisions  in  the  resurrection 


THE  FIRST  RESURRECTION.  87 

host — by  the  use  of  these  particles  the  Scripture  points  out 
also  the  fact  that  there  would  be  considerable  spaces  of  time 
between  the  respective  divisions:  "  Every  man  in  his  own 
order:  Christ  the  first  fruits  'A-napx?) — afterward,  e^eira 
u  they  that  are  Christ's  at  His  coming  " — then  or  next  elra 
"  Cometh  the  end."  Now,  since  i-xura  marks  a  period, 
as  we  know,  of  at  least  nearly  two  thousand  years,  the  time 
between  the  Lord's  resurrection  and  that  of  His  Disciples, 
is  it  not  natural  to  infer  simply  on  etymological  grounds 
that  its  correlative  dra  marks  a  considerable  period.  Also 
compare  the  uses  of  these  particles  in  other  passages.  Take 
the  instance  found  in  five  verses  of  the  same  chapter:  "  He 
was  seen  of  Cephas  then  elra  of  the  twelve:  after  that  emcra 
He  was  seen  of  above  five  hundred  brethren  at  once:  after 
that  ETreira  He  was  seen  of  James,  then  elra  of  all  the 
Apostles."  We  know  that  in  all  these  cases,  particles  mark 
distinct  and  separate  occurrences  with  considerable  intervals 
of  time  between;  and  we  judge  as  a  rule  such  intervals 
will  be  somewhat  proportionate  to  each  other  according  to 
the  scale  on  which  they  are  measured.  And  since  in  the 
instance  in  question  the  first  interval  is  known  to  be  a  long 
one,  it  is  fair  to  presume  that  the  second  will  be,  also. 

But  is  there  any  thing  in  this  passage,  which,  by  com- 
parison with  other  passages,  will  enable  us  to  infer  a  dis- 
tinct period  between  the  resurrection  of  those  that  are 
Christ's  at  His  coming  and  that  of  others  who  come  forth 
afterward  ?  We  reply: 

We  can  not  find  a  solution  of  the  matter  in  the  words 
dra  TO  retoc  when  taken  by  themselves,  because  they  might 
mean  the  end  of  the  present  age,  or  the  end  of  the  mil- 
lennial age,  according  to  the  theory  which  we  hold  of  the 
dispensations.  But  these  words  are  defined  and  limited. 
"Then  cometh  the  end  when  He  delivers  up  the  Kingdom 
to  the  Father."  We  are  told  distinctly,  in  the  Revelation, 


88  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

that  the  saints  will  "  live  and  reign  with  Christ."  It  would 
be  most  extraordinary  if  they  should  reign  with  Him  after 
He  has  delivered  up  the  Kingdom.  And  yet  we  must 
accept  this  conclusion  if  we  take  the  end  here  referred  to 
to  be  the  end  of  the  present  dispensation  as  the  deniers 
of  two  resurrections  hold ;  or  else  we  must  take  it  that  this 
reign  of  the  saints  has  already  begun,  which  certainly  can 
not  be,  since  they  are  risen  saints  that  share  in  it.  If  we 
accept  the  exposition  as  correct  which  we  have  given  of 
Rev.  20,  all  is  clear.  The  faithful  dead  rise  at  the  Coming 
of  the  Lord;  this  is  the  first  resurrection.  "And  they 
lived  and  reigned  with  Christ  a  thousand  years."  The 
rest  of  the  dead  live  not  till  the  thousand  years  were 
finished.  Then  death  and  hell  gave  up  the  dead  that 
were  in  them,  and  they  were  judged  every  man  according 
to  his  works.  And  death  and  hell  were  cast  into  the  lake 
of  fire.  "  Then  cometh  the  end,  when  He  shall  deliver  up 
the  Kingdom  to  the  Father;  when  He  shall  have  put  down 
all  rule  and  all  authority  and  power.  For  He  must  reign 
till  He  hath  put  all  enemies  under  His  feet.  The  last 
enemy  that  shall  be  destroyed  is  death."  Thus  not  only 
does  the  Apocalypse  harmonize  exactly  with  the  Epistle  to 
the  Corinthians,  but  supplements  and  explains  it.  In  its 
revelation  of  a  thousand  years  between  the  first  and  second 
resurrection,  it  gives  us  the  time  marked  by  the  eira,  in  the 
15th  chap,  of  Corinthians,  or  the  space  between  the  second 
and  third  divisions  of  the  resurrection  host.  And  thus  we 
find  the  end  to  be  synchronous  with  the  period  of  the 
living  again  of  "the  rest  of  the  dead." 

We  wish  now  to  call  attention  to  a  class  of  passages 
which  are  marked  by  this  peculiarity,  that  they  seem  to 
represent  the  resurrection  of  believers  as  eclectic  and  special. 

It  is  plain,  if  the  doctrine  which  we  have  drawn  from 
the  texts  already  considered  is  correct,  that  the  subjects  of 


THE  FIRST  RESURRECTION.  89" 

the  first  resurrection  are  called  out  from  the  general  mass 
of  the  dead,  or,  in  other  words,  that  the  idea  of  priority  in 
the  rising  of  the  righteous  involves  necessarily  the  idea  of 
their  being  gathered  out  from  among  the  great  company 
of  those  who  have  died.  And  certainly  there  is  nothing 
in  this  conception  at  variance  with  the  general  tenor  of 
God's  dealings.*  The  doctrine  of  election,  which  we  pro- 
fess to  hold,  should  not  be  a  mere  abstraction  of  theology; 
an  article  of  faith  which  we  find  it  necessary  to  adopt  in 
order  to  insure  a  consistent  and  scriptural  body  of 
Divinity,  while  we  ignore  and  deny  its  practical  applica- 
tion. It  is  perhaps  the  most  solemn  and  awful  of  all  Scrip- 
tural revelations.  It  certainly  can  only  be  discussed  and 
preached  effectively  by  us  in  those  rare  states  of  mind 
when  the  exquisite  balance  has  been  reached  between  ten- 
der adoration  of  the  sovereignty  and  holiness  of  God,  and 
pathetic  sympathy  with  the  helplessness  and  sinfulness  of 
man.  "  Who  has  not  known  passion,  cross  and  travail  of 
death,"  says  Luther,  "  can  not  treat  of  this  theme  without 
injury  to  man  or  enmity  to  God."  "While,  therefore,  it  ia 
the  instinct  of  the  truest  piety  to  leave  God  to  carry  out 
what  belongs  wholly  to  the  domain  of  His  will,  it  should 
be  equally  the  care  of  an  exact  and  loyal  theology  to  note 
the  application  of  this  principle  at  the  various  stages  of 
redemption  and  to  speak  accordingly.  Thus  we  speak  very 
constantly  of  our  missionary  enterprises  as  destined  to  con- 
vert the  heathen  nations  to  Christ.  The  Holy  Spirit  says 
that  God  hath  visited  the  Gentiles  "  to  take  out  of  them  a. 
people  for  His  name  ^j3eiv  ki-  tdv&v  fabv  (Acts  15:  14.) 


*"  To  grant  a  particular  resurrection,  before  the  general,  is  against  no 
article  of  faith  ;  for  the  Gospel  tells  us  that  at  our  Saviour's  resurrec- 
tion '  the  graves  were  opened  and  many  bodies  of  saints  which  slept 
arose  and  went  into  the  Holy  City,  and-  appeared  to  many.'  And  how  it 
doth  more  impeach  any  article  of  our  faith  to  think  that  may  be  true  of 
martyrs  which  we  believe  of  patriarchs  I  yet  see  not."  [Mede, 
p.  770.J 


$0  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

We  speak  about  the  world  being  converted  and  brought  to 
Christ.  The  Lord  said  to  His  first  disciples  what  he  says 
to  us,  and  what  we  will  say  we  believe  to  the  last  that  shall 
be  converted  under  this  dispensation.  "  Ye  are  not  of  this 
world,  but  I  have  chosen  you  out  of  the  world,  et-efogdiufv 
i/Mf  £K  rov  n6afiov  (John  15:  19.)  We  speak  of  Christ 
as  coming  at  the  last  day  to  a  race  that  has  been  redeemed 
and  saved  under  the  preaching  of  its  Gospel.  Christ,  in 
speaking  of  that  event,  says:  *'  That  the  Son  of  Man  will 
send  His  angels  with  a  great  sound  of  a  trumpet  to  gather 
together  His  elect  from  the  four  winds, "  significantly 
adding  that,  of  two  living  together  side  by  side  on  the 
earth  at  the  same  time,  "  the  one  shall  be  taken  and  the 
other  left."  We  speak  of  all  men  being  raised  up  together, 
at  the  appearing  of  the  Lord,  to  be  judged.  Christ  speaks 
of  those  who  shall  be  "  accounted  worthy  to  obtain  that 
age  and  the  resurrection  out  from  among  the  dead."  (Luke 

20,    35.)      [rJ7C  avaardaeos  rife  EK  ve/cpwv.]      TilUS    throughout    the 

whole  extent  of  God's  dispensations  we  find  this  solemn 
law  abiding,  and  learn  that,  from  the  first  stage  of  redemp- 
tion, the  justification  of  the  soul,  to  the  last,  the  redemption 
of  the  body,  there  is  a  "  calling,"  and  an  "  election,"  which 
we  are  to  strive  to  make  "  sure." 

In  connection  with  the  passage  just  quoted,  take  the 
words  of  Paul,  Phil.  3: 11  "I  count  all  things  but  loss  and 
*  *  *  if  by  any  means  I  might  attain  unto  the  resurrec- 
tion OUt  fl'Oin  among  the  dead."  \rfji>  it-avdoraotv  TJJV ka  vc/cpwv.] 

The  words  are  very  strong  in  the  Greek.  We  do 
not  see  how  they  can  possibly  refer  to  anything  else  than  an 
eclectic  resurrection,  a  separation  and  quickening  to  life  out 
from  among  the  dead.  Especially  would  this  seem  to  be  so, 
when,  in  addition  to  the  very  emphatic  language  describing 
the  resurrection  itself,  there  is  the  expression  of  intense 
•desire  and  vehement  striving  to  attain  it.  Why  should  one 


THE  FIRST  RESURRECTION.  91 

strive  to  attain  what  is  inevitable,  as  Paul's  resurrection  must 
have  certainly  appeared  to  be  had  he  held  that  all 
men  will  be  raised  together  ?  And  what  can  our 
Lord's  words — "They  which  shall  be  accounted  worthy 
to  obtain  that  age,  and  the  resurrection  from  the 
dead "  —  mean  on  any  other  view  than  that  which 
we  are  defending  ?  —  the  view,  viz.:  that  there  is  a  prior 
age  in  which  the  rising  of  the  saints  will  take  place,  and  a 
distinct  and  special  and  privileged  dispensation  of  bodily 
redemption  which  belongs  to  them.*  And  this  phase  of 
our  argument  is  set  in  very  strong  light  by  the  additional 
fact  that  this  expression,  avaarwnc  k  venp&v,  is  so  inva- 
riable throughout  the  New  Testament  in  its  application  to 
Christ  as  well  as  to  His  saints.  There  is  only  one  instance 
where  the  other  phrase,  OV&OTCUHQ  venptiv — the  general 
expression  for  the  resurrection  of  the  dead — is  applied  to  our 
Lord,  and  that  seems  to  be  on  account  of  a  special  require- 
ment of  the  context.  He,  coming  forth  from  the  dead  and 
opening  the  doors  for  all  believers  to  come  forth  with  him 
in  the  resurrection  unto  life,  is  described  just  as  they  are, 
as  rising  eK  venp&v.  Hence,  very  significantly,  we  find  it 
said  in  the  Acts  that  the  apostles  preached  through  Jesus 
the  resurrection  from  the  dead,  not  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead.  Now  we  will  not  dwell  on  the  question  whether  the 
eclectic  conception  is  contained  in  the  words  to  the  extent 
that  we  have  claimed.  We  find  it  admitted  even  by 
some  who  oppose  the  doctrine  we  are  advocating. 
Olshausen  even  goes  so  far  as  to  declare  that  the  "  phrase 

*"  What  special  meaning,"  asks  Prof.  Stuart,  "  can  this  have  unless  it 
implies  that  there  is  a  resurrection  where  the  just  only,  and  not  the 
unjust,  shall  be  raised  ?"  This  expression,  as  well  as  the  "  every  man  in 
his  own  order  " — and  the  evident  "  plain  prose  "  character  of  the  pas- 
sage in  Rev.  20,  compells  the  learned  man,  though  a  strong  post-mille- 
narian,  to  concede  most  fully  the  doctrine  of  the  first  resurrection. 
Stuart  on  Apocalypse,  I.  p.  175-178,  409-379,  and  II.  356-362,  474. 


92  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

would  be  inexplicable  if  it  were  not  derived  from  the  idea 
that  out  of  the  mass  of  the  dead  some  would  rise  first." 

And  what  if  it  be  affirmed  that  even  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment we  rind  distinct  traces  of  the  idea  of  an  eclectic  and 
precedent  resurrection  of  the  just?  The  passage  in  Daniel 
12:  2,  translated  in  our  common  version,  "And  many  of 
them  that  sleep  in  the  dust  of  the  earth  shall  awake,  some 
to  everlasting  life,  and  some  to  shame  and  everlasting  con- 
tempt," is  undoubtedly  a  Messianic  prediction  concerning 
the  time  of  the  end.  This  all  admit.  Some  deny,  indeed, 
the  application  of  the  passage  to  a  literal  bodily  resurrec- 
tion. But  we  believe  with  Pusey  and  Tregelles  that  the 
words  "  sleep  "  and  "  dust  of  the  earth  "  and  "  wake"  and 
"  everlasting  life  "  connect  the  passage  too  closely  with  the 
New  Testament  phraseology  to  leave  much  question  of 
that  point.  Now  Tregelles  translates  the  passage  as  fol- 
lows, giving  us  not  only  the  authority  of  his  own  accurate 
scholarship  for  the  rendering,  but  that  of  two  eminent 
Rabbis,  Saadia  Haggion  and  Eben  Ezra,  whose  explana- 
tions are  quoted  at  length.  "  And  many  from  among  the 
sleepers  of  the  dust  of  the  earth  shall  awake,  these  (that 
awake)  shall  be  unto  everlasting  life;  but  those  (the  rest  of 
the  sleepers  who  do  not  awake  at  this  time)  shall  be  unto 
shame  and  everlasting  contempt."  Here  again,  if  our 
authorities  are  correct,  we  have  the  idea  of  the  first  resur- 
rection, with  its  eclectic  and  separative  character,  and  its 
distinct  issue  in  life,  most  emphatically  set  forth.  And  how 
solemnly  applicable  to  the  literal  as  well  as  to  the  spiritual 
quickening  of  men  are  the  words  of  our  Lord :  "  The  dead 
shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  they  that  hear 
shall  live."  One  event  awaits  mankind:  "Like  sheep  they 
are  laid  in  the  grave;  Death  shall  feed  upon  them."  But 
all  will  not  hear  the  great  first  resurrection  call.  As  now,  so 
then,  the  words  of  Jesus  will  be  true,  "  My  sheep  hear  my 


THE  FIRST  RESURRECTION.  93 

voice."  As  now,  so  then",  only  those  that  have  received  the 
spirit  of  adoption  will  cry  "Abba  Father"  as  the  great 
God  shall  call  to  the  dead  by  the  mouth  of  His  Son.  "  If 
the  Spirit  of  Him  that  raised  up  Jesus  from  the  dead  dwell 
in  you,  He  that  raised  up  Christ  from  the  dead  shall 
quicken  your  mortal  bodies  by  His  Spirit  that  dwelleth  in 
you."  That  Spirit  is  the  bond  of  life  between  Christ  and 
all  that  sleep  in  Him  and  the  pledge  of  their  redemption 
from  the  grave.  The  witness,  now,  of  our  sonship  He  is  the 
witness  that  then  we  shall  be  children  of  the  resurrection ; 
responding  and  waking  instantly  at  the  sound  of  the 
trumpet.  "  Thou  shalt  call  and  I  will  answer,"  while  in 
"  that  silence  that  terrifies  thought "  the  rest  of  the  dead 
shall  sleep  on,  waiting  only  in  their  conscious  loss  for  the 
Day  of  Judgment  to  consummate  and  manifest  their  doom. 

Had  we  time  to  take  up  all  the  texts  bearing  on  the 
question,  we  should  wish  to  notice  some  passages  which 
represent  the  resurrection  as  directly  conditioned  on  faith 
and  regeneration  and  union  with  Christ,  all  which  would 
go  to  show  that  the  redemption  of  the  body  is  a  distinct 
inheritance  of  believers  in  some  sense,  and  certainly  not 
unlikely  in  the  sense  we  are  claiming. 

We  wish,  now,  to  refer  to  two  texts  which  have  been  cited 
as  distinctly  and  unquestionably  contradicting  the  theory 
we  have  advocated.  The  first  is  in  2  Timothy,  4:1, 
reading  according  to  the  common  version:  "I  charge 
thee,  therefore,  before  God  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  who 
shall  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead  at  His  appearing  and 
His  kingdom."  It  is  said  that  we  have  here  the  living  and 
the  dead  without  distinction  or  separation,  brought  together 
at  the  coming  of  Christ.  All  that  need  be  said  in  regard 
to  this  passage  is  that,  according  to  the  latest  text,  we  have 
not,  mra  T%V  eirujtaveiav  "  at  the  appearing,"  etc.  —  but  ml. 
[This  is  Scholz's  and  Tischendorfs  reading,  adopted 


SECOND  COMING  OF  CUEIST. 


by  Alford.]  And  the  words  are  translated,  therefore, 
according  to  Alford:  "  I  charge  thee  before  God  and  Jesu& 
Christ  who  is  about  to  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead,  and 
by  His  appearing  and  His  kingdom,"  etc.  This  change 
not  only  relieves  the  passage  of  any  seeming  contradiction 
of  the  doctrine  which  we  are  advocating,  but  makes  it  bear 
emphatic  support  to  it. 

The  other  text  is  John  5:  28.     "Marvel  not  at  this;  for 
the  hour  is  coming  in  which  all  that  are  in  their  graves  shall 
hear  His  voice,  and  shall  come  forth,  they  that  have  done 
good  unto  the  resurrection  of  life  ;  and  they  that  have  done 
evil  unto  the  resurrection  of  damnation."     This,  it  is  said, 
teaches  a  simultaneous  resurrection,  since  it  declares  that 
in  the  hour  that  is  coining  both  classes  will  come  forth  to- 
their  respective  rewards.     We   answer   that,   in   the   first 
place,  we  think  it  is  clear  that  the  word  hour  (fya)  as  here 
employed,  refers  to  an  era  or  lengthened  period  of  time. 
This,  we  know,  is  not  an  unusual  meaning  of  the  word,  a? 
appears  by  referring  to  such  examples  as  1  John  2:  18 
Horn.  13:  11;  and,  what  is  more  directly  to  the  point,  oui 
Lord  had  just  used  the  term  in  this  sense  in  verse  twenty 
fifth:     "Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  the  hour  is  coming 
and  now  is  when  the  dead  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son 
of  God,  and  they  that  hear  shall  live."     This  is  generally 
taken  to  refer  to  that  spiritual  quickening  under  the  preach- 
ing  of  the  Gospel,  which  began  with  the  time  of  Christ, 
and  is  going  on  to-day.     Therefore,  the  hour  referred  to 
must  have  continued  for  at  least  nearly  two  thousand  years. 
This  is  the  time  for  the  quickening  of  the  living  who  are 
dead  in  sins.     It  is   evidently  synchronous  with  1  John 
2:  18  —  "It  is  the  last  time"  [&?a]  ;  and  covers  the  whole 
Gospel  dispensation.     Next  follows,  in  our  Lord's  discourse, 
a  statement  in  regard  to  the  time  of  the  dead.     The  two 
periods  are  set  in  contrast,  as  it  would  seem.   The  first,  the 


THE  FIRST  RESURRECTION.  95 

hour  of  spiritual  quickening,  had  already  begun.  Hence 
it  is  described  thus  :  "  The  hour  is  corning  and  now  is." 
The  second  had  not  yet  begun,  hence  only  the  words : 
"The  hour  is  coming"  are  used  with  reference  to  it.  Is 
it  not  fair  to  presume  that  the  second  era  like  the  first  is  a 
prolonged  one  ?  We  think  no  one  can  reasonabh^  deny 
this.  This  is  the  way  we  take  it :  At  the  appearing  of 
the  Lord  from  heaven,  the  age  will  open  in  which  all  that 
are  in  their  graves  will  come  forth;  but  some  at  the  begin- 
ning and  some  at  the  end  of  the  age.  If  it  be  said  that  it 
is  a  strained  and  unnatural  construction,  to  bring  events 
which  are  so  far  apart,  into  such  immediate  juxtaposition, 
with  no  intimation  of  any  time  lying  between  them,  we 
reply  that  it  is  not  at  all  uncommon  in  prophecy.  Who, 
for  instance,  in  reading  Isaiah's  words  concerning  the 
Messiah — "  to  proclaim  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord 
and  the  day  of  the  vengeance  of  our  Lord  "  would  have 
imagined  that  in  this  single  sentence  two  grand  and  dis- 
tinct eras  were  brought  together  and  spoken  of  in  a  breath 
the  era  of  grace  and  the  era  of  judgment  ?  But  our  Lord 
by  His  penetrating  exegesis,  cleft  the  passage  asunder,  we 
remember,  as  He  expounds  it  in  the  synagogue,  and,  break- 
ing off  in  the  middle  of  the  sentence — u  to  preach  the  accept- 
able year  of  the  Lord" — He  closed  the  book  and  sat 
down,  saying :  "  This  day  is  this  Scripture  fulfilled  in 
your  ears."  We  take  it,  that,  in  this  prophetic  passage  of 
His  own,  there  is  a  similar  conjoining  of  distant  and 
widely  separated  acts  of  the  same  resurrection  drama. 

And  we  are  confirmed  in  this  impression  by  noting  how 
exactly  this  passage,  with  its  expressions  "resurrection  of 
life,"  and  the  "resurrection  of  judgment,"  corresponds  to 
the  passage  in  the  Revelation,  these  being  common  points  in 
the  two  texts — the  latter  seeming  to  fill  out  in  detail  what 
is  here  presented  in  outline.  And  this  leads  us  to  remark 


"96  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

that  there  is  perhaps  no  doctrine  of  Scripture  the  references 
to  which  are  at  once  so  fragmentary  and  so  complemental 
of  each  other  as  this  doctrine  of  two  resurrections.  Except 
in  the  passage  in  the  Revelation  it  is  nowhere  presented  in 
a  formal  and  complete  statement.  But  what  is  very  strik- 
ing is,  that  almost  every  scattered  allusion  to  it  fits  into 
this  passage  at  some  point,  confirming  its  literal  signifi- 
cance, and  being  itself  confirmed  by  it.  Like  the  famous 
trilingual  inscription  on  the  Rossetta  stone,  which  from 
having  one  known  language,  though  it  had  two  unknown 
ones,  gave  the  clew  and  interpretation  to  the  Egyptian 
hieroglyphics,  so  these  scattered  texts,  from  containing 
some  known  and  unquestioned  allusion  to  the  literal  resur- 
rection of  the  body,  furnish  a  key  and  confirmation  to  this 
much-disputed  and,  as  some  say,  enigmatical  passage  of  the 
Apocalypse.  For  example  :  All  are  agreed  that  John  5: 
28,  29,  and  Luke  20:  36,  have  reference  to  the  literal  rising 
of  the  body  from  the  grave.  Apply  these  to  Rev.  20 : 1-6,  and 
note  how  perfectly  they  fit  it :  "  They  that  have  done  good 
unto  the  resurrection  of  life"  (Gospel  of  St.  John.) 
"  They  lived  and  reigned  with  Christ;  this  is  resurrection 
the  first."  (Apoc.)  "  They  that  shall  be  accounted  worthy 
to  obtain  that  world  and  the  resurrection  from  the  dead 
neither  marry  nor  are  joined  in  marriage,  neither  can  they 
die  any  more"  (Luke.)  "  On  such  the  second  death  hath 
no  power"  (Apoc.)  "  They  that  shall  be  accounted 
worthy  to  obtain  the  resurrection  from  the  dead."  (Luke.) 
"  Blessed  and  holy  is  he  that  hath  part  in  the  first  resur- 
rection." "  They  that  have  done  evil  to  the  resurrection 
of  judgment"  |><W]  (John.)  "And  they  were  judged 
[enpidwav]  every  man  according  to  their  works."  (Apoc.) 
We  do  not  see  how  any  candid  critic  can  fail  to  identify 
these  passages  as  referring  to  the  same  event,  the  literal 
resurrection  of  the  body.  And  putting  all  these  texts 


THE  FIRST  RESURRECTION. 


together  we  find  that  one  supplies  what  another  omits  — 
the  Gospels  and  Epistles  teaching  the  privilege  and  pre- 
eminence attaching  to  the  believer's  resurrection — and  the 
Apocalypse  teaching  its  priority  and  separateness  in  time. 
If  now  it  be  asked  what  is  the  practical  significance  of 
this  doctrine,  and  what  its  use  for  Christian  edification  and 
hope,  we  answer,  that  in  order  to  understand  this  we  must  put 
ourselves  back  into  the  position  of  the  early  Christians. 
The}r  seem  to  have  lived  with  their  expectation  constantly 
bent  upon  the  personal  reappearing  of  the  Lord.  The  first 
resurrection  was  the  immediate  and  most  glorious  accom- 
paniment of  this  event.  Therefore,  to  keep  the  command 
of  the  absent  Lord  and  to  be  always  watching  and  waiting 
for  His  retarn  was  to  be  living  in  the  constant  and  joyful 
anticipation  of  receiving  back  their  sainted  dead  who  were 
sleeping  in  Jesus.  The  difference  between  their  attitude 
and  that  which  generally  prevails  nowadays,  is  this:  Now, 
men  wait  for  death  to  bring  them  into  the  presence  and 
companionship  of  the  departed  saints.  Then,  they  waited 
for  the  resurrection  to  bring  their  blessed  dead  back  to 
them.  Now,  they  watch  for  the  opening  inward  of  the  gate 
of  the  grave  to  let  them  into  the  company  of  the  redeemed 
who,  in  their  unclothed  spirit,  are  with  Christ  in  Paradise. 
Then,  they  watched  for  the  opening  outward  of  the  gate  of  the 
grave  that  their  dead;  clothed  upon  with  immortality,  might 
rejoin  them  in  their  transformed  bodies,  and,  being  caught 
up  together  with  them  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air,  might 
be  forever  with  the  Lord.  The  first  resurrection  being  thus 
inseparably  bound  up  with  the  Parousia,  all  the  rewards 
and  hopes  of  discipleship  were  identified  with  the  personal 
appearing  of  the  Lord.  When  his  word  was  heard,  u  Behold, 
I  come  quickly  and  my  reward  is  with  me,"  it  was  the  most 
exalted  and  inspiring  stimulus  to  Christian  activity  and 
consecration.  When  his  promise  was  remembered,  u  Thou 
7 


98  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

sbalt  be  recompensed  at  the  resurrection  of  the  just,"  it 
was  a  most  quickening  and  immediate  motive  to  zeal  and 
steadfastness. 

It  can  not  be  denied,  we  think,  that  the  prevailing  habit 
of  our  time,  so  different  from  the  apostolic,  of  looking  for 
the  rewards  of  our  labor  so  entirely  at  death,  and  for  the 
fruition  of  our  hope  in  that  intermediate  state  to  which 
death  introduces  us,  has  put  the  resurrection  into  a  much 
lower  place  than  that  which  it  held  in  the  beginning. 
Indeed,  I  may  say  that  in  the  popular  apprehension,  death 
has  very  largely  usurped  the  place  that  belongs  to  the 
resurrection.  But  death,  we  must  remember,  is  an  enemy. 
It  never  was,  and  never  can  be,  anything  but  an  enemy. 
It  is  cruel,  repulsive  and  humbling,  "  Sin's  great  conquest 
and  Satan's  chief  work,  the  fulness  of  sorrow  and  affliction, 
the  triumph  of  corruption,  the  consummation  of  the  curse." 
But  how  has  man  learned  to  idealize  this  hideous  enemy 
into  a  good  angel!  How  has  he  accustomed  himself  to 
speak  of  the  grim  executor  of  the  penalty  of  sin  as  though 
it  were  his  bony  fingers  that  were  commissioned  to  bring 
us  our  reward,  and  unlock  for  us  the  gates  of  life!  How 
he  has  canonized  him  in  poetry!  "Oh  how  beautiful  is 
death,"  writes  Richter,  "seeing  we  die  into  a  world  of  life  I" 

And  the  poet  Young  sings: 

Death  is  the  crown  of  life : 

Death  gives  us  more  than  was  in  Eden  lost, 
The  King  of  Terrors  is  the  Prince  of  Peace. 

Indeed,  I  think  it  would  be  no  exaggeration  to  say  thatr 
in  the  apprehension  of  many  Christians,  death  has  been 
thrust  into  the  place  that  belongs  to  Christ  himself,  and 
that  the  crown  of  welcome  which  we  should  ever  be  wait- 
ing to  put  upon  the  head  of  Him  who  at  His  coming  will 
"swallow  up  death  in  victory"  is  put  upon  the  ghastly 


THE  FIRST  RESURRECTION. 


brow  of  him  who  is  daily  swallowing  up  life  in  defeat. 
"Oh,  strange  delusion  of  Satan,"  as  one  has  indignantly 
exclaimed,  "  to  have  made  the  capital  cnrse  of  God  eclipse 
the  capital  promise  of  God!  Satan's  consummated  king- 
dom over  the  body  to  take  the  place  in  our  thoughts  which 
Christ's  consummated  kingdom  in  the  body  and  spirit,  even 
the  resurrection,  was  meant  to  take."  In  saying  all  this 
we  do  not  ignore  the  meaning  of  such  passages  as  "to  die 
is  gain,"  and  "to  depart  and  be  with  Christ,  which  is  far 
better,"  and  "  absent  from  the  body  and  present  with  the 
Lord."  Nor  do  we  question  for  a  moment  the  felicity  and 
blessedness  of  the  disembodied  saints.  Only  when  these 
passages  and  this  state  are  held  up,  as  they  constantly  are, 
as  embodying  the  supreme  hope  of  the  Christian,  we  must 
put  in  this  caveat  from  the  Word  of  God:  "Not  that  we 
would  be  unclothed,  but  clothed  upon,  that  mortality  might 
be  swallowed  up  of  life."  There  can  be  no  question  on 
this  point.  When  we  have  stood  by  the  grave  of  Lazarus 
and  listened  to  Christ's  words  to  the  sorrowing  sisters,  and 
when  we  have  heard  with  what  promises  St.  Paul  enforced 
his  exhortation  to  the  Thessalonian  Christians  that  they 
"  sorrow  not  even  as  others  who  have  no  hope,"  it  is  per- 
fectly clear  what  words  we  are  to  use  in  fulfilling  the 
injunction  "Wherefore  comfort  one  another  with  these 
words"  Life,  not  death,  is  henceforth  the  believer's  hope; 
the  resurrection,  not  the  grave,  is  the  object  of  his  joyful 
anticipation.  And  for  us  to  reverse  the  divine  perspective 
and  thrust  into  the  background  what  God  has  set  so  con- 
spicuously in  the  foreground  is  to  make  sad  the  hearts 
whom  the  Lord  has  bid  to  rejoice. 

.  But,  it  may  be  asked,  how  does  the  doctrine  of  two  res- 
urrections enhance  the  victory  of  the  blessed  over  death, 
above  that  of  one  general  and  promiscuous  resurrection? 
Chiefly  in  this,  that  instead  of  postponing  the  hour  of  the 


100  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

saints'  triumph  to  a  remote  eternity,  or  placing  the  scene 
of  death's  subjugation  upon  the  outer  and  far-off  confines 
of  time,  it  brings  it  into  a  near  and  constantly  impending 
future-  It  is  not  that  the  rising  of  some  of  the  dead  is 
postponed  to  a  later  era  than  we  had  thought,  but  that  the 
rising  of  others  is  brought  forward,  made  a  near  reward  of 
faith,  and  the  object  of  immediate  comfort  and  hope.  We 
have,  I  think,  a  perfect  illustration  of  this  idea  in  the  con- 
versation of  Christ  with  Martha.  To  her  pathetic  words  of 
sorrow  and  regret  over  her  brother's  death,  Jesus  answered: 
"  Thy  brother  shall  rise  again."  Martha  said  unto  Him: 
"  I  know  that  he  shall  rise  again  in  the  resurrection  at  the 
last  day,"  her  thought  seeming  to  be  this:  "Yes,  at  the 
last  day;  but  that  is  a  great  way  off,  that  is  a  long  time  to 
wait."45"  Jesus  said  unto  her:  UI  am  the  Kesurrection  and 
the  Life.  And  since  I,  who  have  power  to  raise  the  dead, 
am  standing  here,  thou  hast  not  to  wait.  Even  now  this 
great  miracle  is  possible  since  I  am  here."  I  apply  the 
lesson  of  the  Master  to  present  times.  I  attempt  to  com- 
fort a  sorrowing  group  of  mourners  with  the  hope  of  the 
resurrection.  They  have  never  heard  of  but  one  resurrec- 
tion, as  thousands  have  not.  And  when  I  say  to  them, 
•"  Thy  brother  shall  rise  again,"  they  reply,  sadly,  "  Oh, 
yes,  at  the  last  day;  but  that  is  so  far  away.  The  world 
must  be  converted  first;  and  then  a  Millennium  of  a  thou- 
sand years  must  elapse  before  the  event  can  take  place. 
It  is  such  a  remote  hope."  But  no!  I  say,  Christ  is  "  the 
Resurrection  and  the  Life."  "  The  last  day,"  indeed!  but 
it  is  the  morning  star  that  ushers  in  the  day,  and  He  is 
"  the  bright  and  morning  star."  It  is  the  sun  that  brings 
the  day-dawn.  And  He  is  "  the  Sun  of  Righteousness." 
\  ou  have  not  to  wait  for  the  world's  conversion,  or  for  the 
lapse  of  a  Millennium  to  bring  in  the  longed-for  hope,  but 
*  Stiers'  Words  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  VI.,  26. 


THE  FIRST  RESURRECTION.  101 

only  "  till  the  day-dawn  and  the  day-star  arise."  And  that 
may  be  to-morrow,  so  far  as  we  know.  "  Quickly  "  is  His 
promise  concerning  His  coming,  and  every  sign  of  His 
appearing  is  a  token  from  your  beloved  dead  that  they 
will  soon  rejoin  you.  In  every  sound  of  his  approaching 
footsteps  you  hear  the  footfalls  of  your  sainted  ones  rising 
up  to  meet  Him  as  He  comes.  Say  not  concerning  the 
child  whom  you  have  lost  as  David  said:  "I  shall  go  to 
him  but  he  shall  not  return  to  me."  A  better  hope  than 
this  is  yours.  Say  rather,  it  is  possible  that  even  to-mor- 
row my  child  may  return  to  me.  For  the  Master  saith, 
"  Behold,  I  come  quickly;"  and  we  know  that  when  Jesus 
comes,  God  will  bring  with  Him  those  that  sleep  in  Jesus. 
Thus  the  faith  that  intensifies  and  makes  real  the  personal 
and  imminent  appearing  of  the  Lord,  intensifies  the  hope 
of  the  resurrection,  and  makes  it  a  practical  and  immedi- 
ate ground  of  consolation. 

It  is  useless  to  say  that  it  is  the  character  alone  of  the 
saints'  resurrection,  not  its  priority,  that  gives  it  its  inspir- 
ation. That  expression  that  has  passed  into  popular  usage, 
"  the  morning  of  the  resurrection,"  tells  more  than  is  gen- 
erally thought  of  by  those  who  use  it.  "  I  will  raise  him 
up  at  the  last  day,"  Christ  says  again  and  again  when 
announcing  the  rewards  of  discipleship.  But  that  last  day 
— that  Millennial  day,  has  a  morning  and  an  evening. 
Shall  we  be  content  to  wait  till  the  twilight  of  that  day; 
till  the  shadows  of  impending  judgment  have  begun  to 
gather  before  we  hear  our  summons  to  come  forth  from  the 
grave,  satisfied  if  only  our  rising  be  to  life  and  not  to  con- 
demnation? Nay,  but  the  Scriptures  stir  us  to  emulation 
by  a  "  better  resurrection  "  than  this.  Of  Christ's  rising 
we  are  told  that,  "  very  early  in  the  morning  "  the  disciples 
came  to  the  sepulchre  and  found  the  stone  rolled  away  and 
the  Saviour's  body  gone!  So  we  believe  it  will  be  in  that 


102         SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

glorious  thousand-year  day,  to  which  we  hasten — "  very 
early  in  the  morning,",  while  yet  the  great  careless  world 
is  sleeping  on,  and  only  the  faithful  watchers  have  sighted 
the  morning  star  '<  in  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an 
eye,"  the  great  transaction  will  have  been  accomplished, 
and  of  the  dead  sleeping  side  by  side  in  the  grave,  as  well 
as  of  the  living  sleeping  side  by  side  in  bed,  one  will  have 
been  taken  and  another  left.  Inexpressibly  solemn  is  the 
thought  concerning  those  who  are  left  behind,  but  unspeak- 
ably glorious  concerning  those  who  have  been  taken.  The 
reward  so  much  earlier  as  well  as  more  glorious  than  we 
have  dreamed  of !  The  crown  so  much  sooner  as  well  as 
brighter  than  we  have  imagined!  The  devout  Lavater 
meditating  on  this  thought  exclaims: 

"How  inexpressibly  animating  to  the  best  exercise  of  our  moral 
powers  must  this  idea  be;  to  be  a  thousand  years  sooner  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  full  fruition  of  the  blessed.  So  much  earlier — a  thousand 
years  earlier — to  enjoy  personal  fellowship  with  the  lovely  Saviour,  and 
the  noblest  of  the  human  family  and  along  with  Jesus,  the  prophets  and 
apostles  to  superintend  the  immediate  concerns  of  the  Godhead  .  .  . 
to  be  already  raised,  together  with  Christ  on  the  Great  Morning  of  the 
general  judgment,  and  triumph  over  death  and  be  occupied  in  the 
judgment  of  the  world;  to  shine  opposite  the  families  of  tiiese  rising 
from  the  dead,  and  among  the  unnumbered  millions  of  the  heavenly 
inhabitants ;  that  is  a  happiness  which  none  other  than  an  insensible, 
creeping  soul  can  view  with  unconcern,  and  can  think  unworthy  of  his 
most  zealous  strivings."* 

*  Referring  to  the  words  of  this  eminent  man,  reminds  us  of  the  testi- 
mony of  others  on  the  point  indicating  how  far  this  idea  is  from  being 
novel  or  modern.  Chrysostom  says,  "The  just  shall  rise  before  the 
wicked  that  they  may  be  first  in  the  resurrection,  not  only  in  dignity, 
but  in  time."  (Comment  on  1  Thess.  4: 15.)  Jeremy  Taylor  says:  u  The 
resurrection  shall  be  universal;  good  and  bad  shall  rise;  yet  not  all 
together;  but  first  Christ — then  they  that  are  Christ's— and  then  ihere  is 
another  resurrection,  etc.  Seven  on  1  Cor.  15-23.  Topi ady  says:  "I 
am  one  of  those  old  fashioned  people  who  believe  the  doctrine  of  the 
Millennium  and  that  there  will  be  two  distinct  resurrections  rf  the  dead; 
first  of  the  just,  and  second  of  the  unjust;  which  last  resurrection  of 
the  reprobate  will  not  commence  till  a  thousand  years  after  the  resur- 
rection of  the  elect."- Works  Vol.  III.  p.  470.  See  also,  Van  Oosterzee's 
Dogmatics  Vol.  II.  p.  786:  Christlieb,  "Modern  Doubt,"  p.  452« 
Olshausen  on  1  Cor.  15-23.  Lange  on  Rev.  pp.  343,  345.  Auberlin  on 
Daniel,  pp.  65,  67, 330,  331,  332. 


THE  FIRST  RESURRECTION.  103 

The  power  of  the  first  resurrection,  then,  as  a  doctrine, 
rests  on  a  close  and  inseparable  connection  of  the  event 
with  the  coming  of  the  Lord.  It  can  be  shorn  of  this 
power  in  two  ways: 

First,  by  detaching  the  resurrection  from  the  second 
personal  Advent  of  Christ.  And  it  ought,  we  think,  to  be 
the  occasion  of  serious  solicitude  that  this  is  done  to  so 
great  an  extent  among  orthodox  theologians  of  the  present 
day.  Not  infrequently  have  we  heard  preachers  assert  that 
the  Christian  receives  his  resurrection  body  immediately 
at  death;  not  infrequently  have  we  heard  ministers  stand- 
ing over  the  coffin  pronounce  the  words,  "  He  is  not  here, 
he  is  risen,"  thus  actually  identifying  death  with  resurrec- 
tion— a  doctrine  we  are  free  to  say  which  not  only  bears  no 
appreciable  resemblance  to  the  teaching  of  St.  Paul,  but  is 
too  strikingly  like  that  of  Hymeneus  and  Philetus  "  who, 
concerning  the  truth,  have  erred,  saying  that  the  resurrec- 
tion is  past  already,  and  overthrow  the  faith  of  some."  It 
is  easy,  however,  to  trace  the  genesis  of  this  false  doctrine. 
The  resurrection  being  so  clearly  set  forth  in  Scripture  as 
the  ground  of  hope  concerning  the  dead,  the  perplexity 
arises  of  making  it  a  practical  hope  while  connected  with  a 
Post-Millennial  Advent,  since  that  Advent  can  not  be 
brought  nearer  than  a  thousand  years  at  least.  And  so,  in 
order  to  make  the  resurrection  an  immediate  ground  of 
comfort,  it  is  cut  loose  from  its  connection  with  the  Advent, 
and  brought  forward  to  the  nearer  event  of  one's  dissolu- 
tion, and  thus  the  hour  of  one's  dying  is  made  the  hour  of 
his  rising  from  the  dead,  and  by  the  illusions  of  rhetoric, 
as  well  as  by  floral  decorations,  it  is  attempted  to  disguise 
.the  odors  of  corruption,  and  change  them  into  the  fragrance 
of  the  resurrection.  But  how  clearly  and  unquestionably 
is  this  event  linked  in  Scripture  to  the  second  coming  of 
Christ.  It  is  not  by  the  power  of  the  Son  of  Man  alone 


104  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

that  this  great  transaction  is  to  be  effected,  but  by  "  the 
power  and  coming  of  Jesus  Christ."  As  in  the  raising  of 
Lazarus,  which  we  hold  to  be  typical  of  the  final  scene,  the 
Lord  did  not  put  forth  His  quickening  power  from  a  dis- 
tance but  came  in  person  to  the  place  of  burial,  and  cried 
with  a  loud  voice,  "  Lazarus,  come  forth."  So  it  will  beat 
the  resurrection  of  all  the  blessed.  "  The  Lord  Himself 
shall  descend  from  heaven  with  a  shout,  with  the  voice  of 
the  Archangel,  and  with  the  trump  of  God;  and  the  dead 
in  Christ  shall  rise  first."  1  Thess.  4:16.  And  when  the 
trumpet  shall  have  thus  sounded  at  the  descending  of  the 
Lord,  and  when  the  dead  shall  have  been  raised  incorrupt- 
ible, and '"  when  this  corruptible  shall  have  put  on  incor- 
ruption,  and  this  mortal  shall  have  put  on  immortality, 
then"  says  the  Scripture,  shall  be  brought  to  pass  the  say- 
ing that  is  written,  u  Death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory." 
And  we  must  emphasize  this  word  then.  Until  then,  how- 
ever, the  bitterness  of  death  may  be  assuaged,  and  however 
his  terrors  may  be  mitigated  he  is  victor  over  the  body, 
not  the  vanquished.  And  let  who  can  shout  "  victory,"  as 
the  grave  opens,  and  the  darkness  and  corruption  creep  on, 
and  the  touch  of  the  icy  hand  is  laid  upon  the  brow;  but 
we  are  sure  that  the  Scriptures  do  not  require  us  to  commit 
such  a  solecism.  None  can  long  more  than  we  do  to  raise 
that  shout,  but  we  must  wait  till  the  sound  of  the  trumpet 
gives  the  signal;  and  when  the  Lord  Himself  descends 
from  heaven  with  a  shout,  then  we  expect  to  shout,  as  we 
rise  to  meet  Him,  "  O  Death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?  O 
Grave,  where  is  thy  victory  ? " 

And,  again,  as  we  have  already  intimated,  the  power  of 
the  first  resurrection  as  an  influential  motive  may  be 
weakened  by  putting  the  Advent  afar  off;  "by  thrusting  it 
from  the  foreground  to  the  background  of  the  picture,  by 
massing  it  up  with  the  shadows  of  eternity  instead  o£ 


THE  FIRST  RESURRECTION.  105 

bringing  it  prominently  forward  into  the  clear  field  of  time; 
by  reducing  it  to  a  late  effect  instead  of  an  early  cause  in 
the  great  history."  It  is  impossible  that  men  should  feel 
the  power  of  an  event  which  is  certainly  remote,  as  they  do 
one  that  is  even  possibly  near.  Push  the  event  of  Christ's 
return  across  the  period  of  a  thousand  years,  and  by  no 
possibility  can  it  continue  to  be  an  event  of  such  startling 
and  solemn  interest  as  when  it  is  known  that  it  may  be 
very  nigh.  And  that  which  diminishes  the  power  of  the 
Advent  diminishes  the  power  and  influence  of  all  the  events 
that  attend  it.  And  so  we  give  expression  to  this  earnest 
wish,  that  if  our  gathering  together  in  this  Conference  shall 
not  impress  Christians  with  the  duty  of  fixing  their  eyes 
more  strongly  on  the  coming  of  Christ  as  the  great  hope  of 
the  Church,  it  shall  at  least  lead  them  to  divide  their  interest 
more  proportionately  between  the  two  elements  of  that 
double  theme  of  prophecy — u  the  sufferings  of  Christ  and 
the  glory  that  shall  follow."  Profoundly  holding  that  we 
are  nearer  to  the  glory  than  to  the  sufferings,  we  would  that 
that  glory  were  rising  on  our  larger  vision,  and  daily 
kindling  more  and  more  our  hope  and  expectation.  Why 
should  it  be  deemed  only  safe  to  speak  of  the  Lord's 
epiphany  as  a  far-off  event,  and  only  perilous  and  fanatical 
to  think  of  it  as  nigh  even  at  our  doors  ?  Surely  it  is  the 
expectation,  not  the  putting  away  of  that  event,  that  is 
most  conducive  to  our  preparation  for  it.  And  we  know 
not  that  Matthew  Henry  has  put  it  too  strongly  in  saying 
that  "  our  looking  at  Christ's  second  coming  as  at  a  dis- 
tance is  the  cause  of  all  those  irregularities  that  render  the 
thought  of  it  terrible  to  us"  At  all  events  we  wish  that 
,  it  were  possible  for  the  Church  to  keep  the  Second  Advent 
as  near  to  her  spiritual  consciousness  as  she  keeps  the  first, 
and  that  as  by  the  reminiscence  of  a  historic  faith  "  Jesus 
Christ  is  evidently  set  forth  crucified  among  us,"  so  by  the 


106  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

transfiguration  of  a  prophetic  faith  He  might  be  constantly 
beheld  appearing  to  us  with  His  saints  in  glory.  Surely 
there  is  enough  of  sorrow  and  woe  in  the  present  evil 
world  to  make  us  long  for  His  coming;  and  enough  in  the 
promises  and  admonitions  which  He  has  left  behind  to  made 
us  hope  for  it.  "  The  night  is  far  spent,  the  day  is  at 
hand."  At  each  succeeding  watch  we  hear  the  ringing 
challenge  of  the  great  Sentinel,  "Behold  I  come  quickly." 
As  watchmen  keeping  guard  with  Him  over  the  city  of 
God  on  earth,  we  at  least  ought  to  be  wakeful  enough  to 
give  back  the  answer,  "  Even  so,  come,  Lord  Jesus,"  and 
faithful  enough  to  believe  that  in  doing  so  we  are  sounding 
no  meaningless  watchword  and  putting  up  no  useless 
prayer. 

I  close,  by  holding  up  before  your  eyes  the  glowing 
beatitude  with  which  my  theme  is  crowned.  "  Blessed  and 
holy  is  he  that  hath  part  in  the  first  resurrection;  on  such 
the  second  death  hath  no  power."  In  that  resurrection  is 
the  consummation  of  our  dearest  hopes,  both  in  respect  to 
Christ  and  his  mystical  body.  If  in  the  midst  of  prevailing 
error  and  darkness  we  shall  unhappily  lose  sight  of  this 
hope,  or  displace  it  by  some  other,  let  us  remember  that 
not  only  the  Word  of  God,  but  even  dumb,  inarticulate 
nature  will  rebuke  us.  For  resurrection  is  nature's  hope 
as  well  as  man's.  "  For  we  know  that  the  whole  creation 
groaneth  and  travaileth  in  pain  togetlier  until  now." 
•  •  '  •  "  Waiting  for  the  adoption,  to  wit,  the  redemp- 
tion of  the  body."— Eom.  8:  22. 

And  how  has  nature,  as  though  struggling  to  utter  her 
hope,  been  silently  preaching  of  the  resurrection  since  the 
world  began?  Poets  and  preachers  alike  have  delighted  to 
dwell  on  the  countless  types  and  analogies  which  she  offers 
of  this  great  truth — in  the  flower  springing  up  from  the 
seed  which  has  fallen  into  the  earth  and  died;  in  the  morn- 


THE  FIRST  RESURRECTION.  107 

ing  opening  the  vast  grave  of  night  and  summoning  a 
sleeping  world  to  rise  and  meet  the  sun  u  as  he  cometh 
forth  as  a  bridegroom  out  of  his  chamber;"  in  the  Spring- 
tide, calling  the  earth  from  the  tomb  of  Winter,  loosing 
her  shroud  of  snow,  and  clothing  her  with  life  and  beauty; 
in  all  these  what  joyful  parables  and  prophecies  are  there 
of  a  resurrection!  But  let  us  observe  this  fact,  lhat  so  feeble 
are  the  voices  of  nature,  compared  with  those  of  Scripture, 
that  she  has  been  able  to  tell  us  absolutely  nothing  of  our 
resurrection — the  first  resurrection.  She,  tells  of  a  resur- 
rection to  be  followed  inevitably  by  death.  For  the 
flower  that  blooms  to-day  fades  and  dies  to-morrow;  the 
morning  that  dawned  to-day  will  sink  into  the  grave  of 
night  again  in  a  few  brief  hours;  and  the  earth  that  decked 
herself  with  Springtide  flowers  will  soon  be  wrapped  again 
in  Winter's  winding-sheet  of  snow.  And  so  nature,  while 
she  kindles  our  hopes  mocks  them  by  telling  ever  of  a 
second  death.  But  we  turn  to  Christ,  who  has  brought  life 
and  immortality  to  light  in  the  Gospel,  and  what  a  glorious 
revelation  meets  us.  "  Knowing  that  Christ,  being  risen 
from  the  dead,  dieth  no  more,  death  hath  no  more  domin- 
ion over  Him."  And  that  is  not  all;  we  are  to  have  part 
in  His  resurrection.  "  Blessed  and  holy  is  he  that  hath 
part  in  the  first  resurrection ;  on  such  the  second  death  hath 
no  power"  Rev.  20  :  6.  "  Neither  can  they  die  any  more, 
for  they  are  equal  unto  the  angels,  and  are  the  children  of 
God,  being  the  children  of  the  resurrection." 


108  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


THE  REGENERATION. 

BY  REV.  CHAS.   K.  IMBRIE,  D.D.,   OF  JERSEY  CITY. 

I  AM  to  speak  of  "  The  Regeneration  "  or  u  The  Restitution 
of  all  things  "  foretold  in  the  Scripture.  It  is  a  great 
subject;  weighty  and  most  interesting.  It  comprehends 
the  grand  result  to  which  all  else  is  but  preliminary,  the 
outcome  of  the  promise  made  in  Eden,  that  the  ruin  caused 
by  Satan  and  sin  should  be  fully  repaired.  It  is  also  a  very 
difficult  subject.  To  prove  clearly  from  God's  word  a  single 
step  in  the  process  toward  its  accomplishment,  may  be  done 
with  comparative  ease.  To  show  conclusively  from  the 
Scripture  that  the  personal  and  visible  coming  of  the  Lord 
is  plainly  to  precede  and  introduce  the  Millennial  reign  and 
"  the  Regeneration  "  of  all  things,  is  a  most  important  step 
and  opens  indeed  the  door.  But  behind  that  door  there  yet 
remains  the  glory  beyond — the  finished  purpose  of  God  in 
redemption,  so  far  as  it  is  portrayed  in  the  Scripture.  And 
to  exhibit  this  finished  redemption,  as  it  shines  in  the 
bright  lustre  of  "  the  world  to  come  whereof  we  are  to 
speak,"  and  when  all  is,  at  last,  made  new,  needs  painstak- 
ing indeed.  One  must  speak  with  carefulness  and  modesty. 
Above  all  does  it  need  this  care,  where  long  cherished  pre- 
judgments  are  to  be  met  and  overcome,  and  men  are,  if 
possible,  to  be  brought  back  from  an  interpretation  which 
is  supposed  to  exalt  this  glory  by  substituting  a  dim,  unde- 
fined, though  professedly  spiritual,  meaning  for  the  Scripture 
portrait  of  this  scene,  to  the  acceptance  of  the  plain  and 
natural  sense  of  God's  own  words. 

The  anticipation  of  some  sort  of  blissful  change  to  come 


THE  REGENERATION.  109 

upon  tliis  sad  and  sinful  earth  after  its  long  continued 
storms  and  sorrows  is,  in  one  form  or  another,  very  general. 
Even  those  who  despise  God's  word  and  rely  on  human 
prognostications  or  scientific  researches  for  their  date,  pro- 
phesy with  greater  or  less  distinctness  of  meaning  a  future 
Millennium.  This  belief  is  indeed  so  general  that  the  coming 
of  the  Millennium  has  even  passed  into  a  current  newspaper 
phrase.  With  all  those  who  take  God's  word  for  their 
guide,  the  expectation  of  such  a  time  of  coming  blessedness, 
in  some  form,  is  universal. 

But  what  is  to  be  the  character  of  the  change?  How 
far  is  it  to  affect  this  earth  and  the  race?  What  are  its 
attendants  and  its  time?  On  these  points  there  is 
the  greatest  diversity  of  belief.  And  yet  every  one  must 
see  that  there  can  be  but  one  true  view  of  the  case.  For 
God's  thoughts  and  plan  in  this  matter  are  fixed  and  not 
changeful  or  doubtful;  and  all  things  are  shaping,  in  the 
hands  of  the  King,  to  bring  in  just  the  result  He  has 
all  along  intended  and  none  other.  It  is  impossible  that 
a  millennium  on  the  earth,  and  no  millennium  at  all,  can 
be  foretold  in  the  Scripture.  There  can  not  be  two  sorts 
of  a  u  Regeneration "  foretold  in  the  Scripture.  If  the 
plain  meaning  of  the  Scripture  then  foreshadows  a  Regen- 
eration of  this  earth  and  of  the  race  upon  it,  no  evapora- 
tion of  the  force  of  the  language  under  a  plea  for  spiritual 
significations,  as  being  more  worthy,  can  justly  put  it 
aside.  If  the  grammatical  sense  of  Scripture  portrays 
the  distinct  features  of  such  a  Regeneration  upon  the  earth, 
no  process  of  interpretation  can  justly  dissolve  these 
realities  and  substitute  for  them,  something  shadowy  and 
indefinite.  God's  thoughts  are  always  best.  God's  plans 
for  this  earth  are  best.  And  certainly  He  is  competent, 
when  He  gives  us  a  revelation,  to  reveal  by  the  language 
which  He  uses  and  not  to  hide  or  merely  set  us  a  guessing. 


110  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

Surely  God  is  competent  and  willing  to  state  to  our  com- 
prehension just  what  He  means  us  to  expect  on  the  earth. 

Every  one  must  see,  too,  how  vastly  important  it  is  to  the 
church's  peace  and  patience  of  faith  and  hope  and  joy  to 
get  the  right  view.  No  painstaking  can  be  too  great  that 
will  lead  to  this  result.  For,  if  God  condescends  (as  He 
does  in  His  prophetic  word)  to  outline  for  us  His  one  only 
design  for  the  earth  and  its  race,  how  inexcusable  must  be 
the  slothful  indifference  which  contents  itself  with  ignorant 
neglect  or  with  mistaken  notions  under  the  plea  of  difficulty 
in  searching  into  the  inspired  testimonies. 

Let  no  one  suppose  from  this  great  diversity  of  views 
that  the  Scripture  expressions  concerning  this  event  are 
meagre  or  doubtful.  On  the  contrary,  they  are  very  strik- 
ing and  comprehensive.  They  arrest  attention  at  once. 
To  say  nothing  just  now  of  the  vivid  pictures  of  that  bright 
future  day  drawn  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  in  which  the 
various  features  of  the  time  are  grouped  together;  the  terms 
used  in  the  New  Testament  are  very  strong. 

It  is  called  first  a  "  Regeneration"  (Trafayyeveaia — Matt. 
19  :  28)  a  new  creation,  a  second  birth — Palingenesia. 
Surely  this  implies  a  vast  and  comprehensive  and  thorough 
change,  and  a  change  on  the  earth. 

Again:  It  is  so  vast  and  comprehensive  that  the  whole 
creation  is  depicted  as  groaning  and  travailing  in  pain, 
waiting  to  be  admitted  into  "  the  glorious  liberty  of  the 
children  of  God."  (Rom.  8:  21,  22.)  And  it  is  represented 
as  so  glorious,  that  even  believers  also  with  the  first  fruits 
of  the  Spirit  are  groaning  and  waiting  for  this  day;  the 
day  of  the  redemption  of  the  body;  when  they  shall  be 
"manifested  to  be  the  sons  of  God."  (Rom.  8:  19-23.) 

It  is  called  by  the  Apostle  Peter  a  "  Restitution  of  all 
things,"  (Acts  3:  21)  implying  that  there  is  no  depart- 
ment of  creation  that  has  been  impaired  which  shall  not 
feel  the  influence  of  the  restitution. 


THE  REGENERATION.  Ill 

It  is  represented  both  by  the  Old  Testament  prophets 
(Isaiah  65:  17-66-22)  and  New  Testament  Apostles  (2 
Pet.  3:  13 — Rev.  21:  1)  as  "a  new  Heaven  and  a  new 
Earth  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness;"  a  complete,  all 
pervading,  blessed,  abiding  change. 

And  to  close  all :  In  the  prophecy  which  foreshadows  it 
as  accomplished,  the  change  is  represented  as  total  as  it  is 
glorious;  and  we  hear  the  voice  of  the  King  on  the  throne 
saying,  "  Behold  I  make  ALL  things  new."  (Rev.  21 :  5.) 

And  yet,  strange  to  say,  comprehensive  and  glorious  as 
these  Scripture  expressions  are,  the  results  derived  from 
them  by  different  minds  differ  greatly. 

Four  principal  views  of  these  Scripture  expressions  have 
gained  currency. 

1.  Some  adjust  these  glowing  descriptions  of  our  future 
about  as  follows:  The  church,  as  at  present  constituted,  is 
to  make  more  or  less  progress  in  the  earth  in  the  future  as 
in  the  past;  sometimes  hindred,  sometimes  triumphing; 
and  reaching  possibly  in  a  measure,  to  all  nations.  This 
varying  fortune  is  to  last  until  the  Lord  comes.  Then  the 
earth  is  to  be  destroyed,  the  continuation  of  the  race  is  to  end 
and,  of  course,  all  further  application  of  salvation  is  to  end. 
And  all  these  glorious  pictures,  by  the  prophets,  of  our 
earth's  future  and  the  race's  future  are  relegated  to  the  scenes 
of  some  distant  place  called  Heaven.  In  fact,  according  to 
this  view,  there  is  to  be  no  proper  Millennium  at  all,  nor 
any  proper  Regeneration  of  all  things  on  this  earth.  This 
view,  more  or  less  modified,  has  been  held  by  many  since 
the  Third  Century;  was  held  with  modifications  by  some 
of  the  Reformers;  and  is  still  held  by  a  number  of  persons. 
It  is  called  the  Anti-millennarian  Theory. 

The  inseparable  objection  to  this  view,  however,  is  that 
"the  Regeneration,"  according  to  Scripture,  is  constantly 
identified  with  this  earth;  and  with  men  and  nations  living 


112  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

upon  it.  "The  earth  shall  be  filled  of  the  knowledge 
of  the  Lord  as  the  waters  cover  the  face  of  the  deep." 
"  Nothing  to  hurt  nor  destroy  in  all  God's  Holy  moun- 
tain." "All  nations  serving  Him."  "The  Kingdom 
under  the  whole  Heaven  given  to  the  people  of  the 
Saints  of  the  most  High."  "And  that  Kingdom  an 
an  everlasting  Kingdom."  "God  dwelling  on  the  earth 
and  men  on  earth  His  people."  And  besides,  it  is  impos- 
sible, upon  the  principle  which  supports  this  view,  to  decide 
at  all  from  the  Scripture  what  promises  really  belong  to 
the  earth  and  what  belong  to  this  distant  Heaven. 

2.  The  second  view  admits  the  "Regeneration"  to  refer 
to  this  earth;  and  accepts  all  the  bright  pictures  of  its 
renovation  and  glory.  But  this  view  makes  the  race  end 
at  the  coming  of  the  King,  which  is  said  to  be  the  time 
of  general  judgment. 

It  simply  substitutes  this  earth  renewed,  for  some  differ- 
ent, distant,  sphere  as  the  abode  of  the  righteous  after  the 
resurrection.  This,  with  them,  is  the  Palingenesia; — the 
earth  renewed  made  the  abode  of  the  risen  holy  dead. 

This  view  was  held  by  some  of  the  Reformers  and  others; 
and  is  held  by  some  in  modern  times. 

The  objection  to  this  view  is  that  the  Scriptures  draw 
a  plain  distinction  between  the  nations  living  in  the 
flesh  during  the  Regeneration,  and  the  Saints  raised  from 
the  dead.  The  one  class  reigns  with  Christ,  the  other  does 
not.  The  one  class  is  spoken  of  as  the  Bride  of  the  Lamb; 
the  other  is  not.  The  one  class  can  not  die  any  more,  the 
other  class  have  not  died  at  all. 

Besides,  the  Scriptures  state  so  many  things  of  those 
living  in  the  flesh,  in  the  Regeneration,  which  are  entirely 
incompatible  with  the  condition  of  the  saints  who  have 
died  and  been  raised  again.  For  example,  they  who  are 
living  on  the  regenerated .  earth,  continue  from  generation 


THE  REGENERATION.  113 

to  generation  (Dan.  7:  13,  14,  18,  27;  Gen.  8:  12—17:  7); 
their  seed  and  their  seed's  seed  continuing  thus  forever. 
(Joel  3:  20;  Isaiah  59:  21).  Whereas,  Christ  says,  "The 
children  of  the  resurrection  in  that  world,  neither  marry  nor 
are  given  in  marriage;  neither  can  they  die  any  more,  but 
are  ecjiial  unto  the  angels;"  and  exactly  for  the  reason  that 
they,  unlike  the  others,  are  "  the  children  of  the  resurrec- 
tion." (Luke  20:  34-36). 

3.  The  third  view  also  admits  the  application  of  these 
glowing  promises  to  this  earth  and  expects  them  to  be 
realized  only  here.  But  these  promises  are  all  supposed  to 
indicate  merely  certain  spiritual  changes.  The  language  is 
taken  as  all  symbolical.  Mankind  is  to  become  universally 
Christian,  or  to  a  greater  or  less  degree  so  (for  there  is  a 
difference  of  opinion  here);  and  this  is  to  be  brought  about  in 
the  ordinary  progress  of  the  Gospel.  Suddenly  the  former 
law  of  progress  is  to  be  changed  and  all  nations  are  fully 
to  receive  the  truth.  This  view  admits  also  the  continu- 
ance of  this  blessedness  for  a  long  time  and  calls  it  a  proper- 
millennium  on  earth.  It  is  associated,  however,  with  no 
particular  changes  in  the  condition  of  the  earth  itself,  and, 
according  to  some,  it  does  not  foreshadow  any  residence  of 
Israel  in  his  own  land,  and  especially  no  supremacy  of 
Israel  as  a  people  in  the  renewed  earth.  And  more  than 
all,  this  millennial  day  of  earth's  glory  is  to  wane  away 
before  the  return  of  the  King. 

This  view,  though  widely  spread  in  this  country,  and  in  a 
measure,  throughout  Great  Britain,  has  been  held  only 
about  175  years.  It  is  the  Post-Millennial  view  of  the 
second  Advent  of  Christ. 

The  objections  to  this  view  are  many,  and  they  are  fatal. 
In  the  first  place,  it  is  an  entirely  modern  view — a  novelty 
in  the  Church.  The  Church  has  never  until  lately  known 
it.  Again:  It  is  built  upon  a  total  disregard  of  the  plain 


114:  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

grammatical  sense  of  language.  The  laws  of  language  are 
ignored  in  the  prophecies  on  this  subject,  as  is  done  in  no 
other  department  of  Scripture.  This  objection,  indeed,  is 
largely  true  of  the  two  former  views.  A  third  and  fatal 
objection  is,  that  in  Scripture  the  Regeneration  is  always 
represented  as  effected  through  the  personal  presence  of  the 
King  returned  to  the  earth  and  dwelling  in  the  midst  of 
His  people.  Moreover,  this  view  interposes  a  certain  pro- 
tracted state  of  blessed  rest  and  holiness  in  the  Church 
universal  between  the  present  time  and  the  return  of  the 
Lord  of  which  the  Scripture  says  not  one  word ;  and  it  thus 
destroys  the  need  of  watching  at  all  times  for  His  return; 
a  duty  which  the  Scripture,  on  the  contrary,  insists  upon 
with  special  emphasis.  Further:  It  interposes  a  state  of 
blessedness  upon  the  earth  which  may  and  ought  to  satisfy 
the  Church  with  its  glory.  It  thus  takes  away  from  the 
second  coming  of  the  Lord  the  marked  characteristic  set 
upon  it  by  the  Scripture,  that  this  coming  and  it  alone,  is 
ever  to  be  the  pole  star  of  our  hope  and  expectation.  No 
glory  for  the  Church,  says  the  Scripture,  till  the  time  of 
Christ's  return.  Great  glory,  for  the  Church,  says  this 
theory,  for  a  whole  thousand  years  before  that  time.  This 
view  also  invalidates  the  grand  words  of  Scripture 
regarding  the  "Regeneration,"  so  as  to  destroy  their 
meaning  almost  entirely.  Or,  if  it  insists  that  these  grand 
promises  are  to  be  accepted  in  all  their  fulness,  and  yet 
that  these  pregnant  words  of  Scripture  are  to  be  really  ful- 
filled before  Christ's  coming,  it  would  be  hard  to  say  what 
the  Lord's  coming  is  to  effect.  The  Scripture  expressions 
cover  all  the  ground;  and,  when  fulfilled,  they  would  leave 
nothing  to  be  desired.  "What  can  the  Lord  add,  at  His 
coming,  to  the  Regeneration  when  every  thing  is  already 
regenerated  ? 

4.  Finally,  others  take  the  passages  which  describe  this 


THE  REGENERATION.  115 

Regeneration,  in  their  plain  grammatical  sense.  They 
interpret  the  prophetic  language  (I  do  not  now  mean  the 
symbolic  language  of  prophecy)  as  they  do  all  other  Scrip- 
ture language.  Hence  they  understand  this  u  Regenera- 
tion "  or  "Restitution"  to  be  a  great  and  blessed  change 
in  reference  to  this  earth  and  the  race  upon  it.  They 
understand  it  to  comprehend  the  glorious  appearing  of 
the  great  God  our  Saviour  to  accomplish  this  Regeneration ; 
the  resurrection  by  Him  of  His  departed  saints,  and  the 
rapture  of  His  living  saints  to  take  part  in  His  dominion 
over  the  living  nations ;  the  overthrow  and  expulsion  of  all 
forms  of  evil  from  the  earth;  the  binding  of  him  who  is 
the  Prince  of  evil;  the  repentance  and  restoration  of  Israel 
in  honor  and  holiness  to  their  own  land;  the  outpouring  of 
the  Spirit  on  all  flesh  that  shall  be  spared  from  God's 
signal  judgments  sent  on  the  earth;  the  removal  of  all 
physical  evils  as  well  as  moral;  the  renewal  of  the  earth  to 
more  than  its  original  beauty  as  the  blessed  home  of  the 
race;  finally,  at  the  close  of  the  Millennial  period  the  resur- 
rection, judgment,  and  condemnation,  of  the  wicked  dead ; 
the  casting  of  Satan  into  his  own  place  of  punishment; 
the  destruction  last  of  all  of  death,  and  then  the  establish- 
ment on  the  earth  of  the  redeemed  forever. 

This  is  the  view  of  the  Regeneration  usually  held  by 
those  who  maintain  the  premillennial  Advent  of  Christ; 
although  the  two  things  are  distinct.  It  was,  in  substance, 
held  in  the  Church  universally  for  the  first  three  centuries, 
if  we  are  to  credit  history,  and  it  has  ever  since  had  a 
great  many  adherents  among  the  most  learned  and  faithful 
in  the  Christian  church.  It  was  received  substantially  by 
a  number  of  the  English  Reformers  and  the  godly  and 
learned  men  who  followed  them  in  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries,  martyrs  and  others,  and  is  held  by 
u  large  number,  of  high  reputation  as  biblical  scholars,  in 


116  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

the  present  day,  notwithstanding  it  has  at  times  met  with 
opposition  and  even  contempt. 

What,  now,  are  the  Scripture  grounds  for  expecting  such 
a  Regeneration  ? 

If  we  look  back  at  Eden  and  the  fall,  we  see  plainly  that  the 
one  man's  sin  brought  death  into  the  world.  With  death 
came  entire  ruin.  You  have  the  whole  picture  in  the  trial 
scene  of  Adam  and  Eve  before  Jehovah.  This  is  the  result: 

Alienation  from  God.  "  They  hid  themselves  "  instead 
of  meeting  Him. 

The  curse  falls  upon  the  earth;  it  is  appointed  to  thorns 
and  briars. 

Labors  and  pains,  tears  and  toil,  are  the  allotments  for 
man  during  life. 

Then  the  end;  body  and  soul  to  be  sundered  by  death; 
and  there  is  the  open  Grave  for  the  one,  and  Sheol  or  Hades 
for  the  other.  This  is  the  curse  brought  on  man  and  on 
his  dwelling  place,  by  sin,  through  the  devil. 

Now,  notice  :  Immediately  the  Deliverer  is  promised  to 
destroy  the  works  of  the  devil.  That  Deliverer  is  a  human 
being,  the  seed  of  the  woman,  a  coming  One  whom  we  know 
as  the  God  Incarnate,  whose  delight  was  always  with  the 
sons  of  men  from  the  beginning  (Prov.  8),  who  was  to 
take  on  Him,  not  the  nature  of  angels,  but  the  seed  of 
Abraham,  that,  by  "  death,  He  might  destroy  him  who 
had  the  power  of  death,  that  is,  the  devil,  and  deliver  them 
who,  through  the  fear  of  death,  were  all  their  lifetime  sub- 
ject to  bondage." 

Take  notice,  I  repeat,  that  He  was  to  crush  the  serpent's 
head.  That  is,  He  was  to  be  a  complete  Victor  over  all  the 
evil  which  Satan  had  wrought ;  gaining  for  Himself  and 
His  brethren  with  Him  a  complete  victory  in  all  respects. 
For  the  devil's  work  extended  morally  and  physically  to 
man  and  also  to  his  habitation. 


THE  REGENERATION. 


All  this  was  not  wrought  out  at  once.  It  was  in  the 
future.  It  was  in  hope.  Hence  man  was  commanded  to 
believe  in  this  grace  of  God,  and  hence  the  evils  just  men- 
tioned, continued.  The  earth  yet  groaned.  Pains  and 
labors  were  still  man's  lot  (not  so  much  now,  perhaps,  as  a 
punishment,  as  for  discipline),  and  death,  even  to  believers, 
with  the  grave  and  Sheol  still  continued.  The  victory  over 
all  was  sure  but  future. 

The  believers  in  God  —  "God's  sons  "  and  the  unbelievers, 
divided;  and  the  world  became  so  corrupt  that  the  earth 
was  laid  desolate  by  the  flood.  This  was  not,  however, 
without  the  sound  of  the  Coming  Deliverer,  the  Judge  of 
the  earth,  ringing  in  their  ears.  Enoch  cries  aloud  of  Him 
and  His  saints  "  coming  to  judge  the  world."  It  is  the 
first  clear  note  as  to  the  time  of  the  Regeneration.  (Jude, 
ver.  14:  15.  Compare  Matt.  13:  41-43.) 

Soon  after  the  flood,  the  world  relapses  again  into 
idolatry,  and  the  sudden  judgment  of  God  on  the  plains 
of  Sodom  tells  of  His  indignation  against  the  earth's  unbe- 
lief and  crimes  and  sins. 

And  now  a  new  step  is  taken.  The  nation  of  the  com- 
ing seed,  who  is  to  destroy  the  devil's  works,  is  fixed,  and, 
further,  with  Him  is  associated  (as  an  instrument  for  con- 
veying salvation  to  all  the  earth  from  that  time  forward) 
another  agent,  Abraham's  natural  seed,  Israel.  These  are 
the  two  appointed  servants  of  God  for  bringing  on  the  day 
of  glory:  Christ  and  Israel.  For  as  the  Saviour  Himself 
said,  "  Salvation  is  of  the  Jews."  So  God  says,  "  In  thee 
and  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the  families  of  the  earth  be 
blessed,"  meaning  the  Christ  who  is  the  seed  of  Abraham. 
So  in  Gen.  18:  "  Thy  seed  shall  be  as  the  stars  and  as  the 
sand  on  the  sea  shore,  and  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the  families 
of  the  earth  be  blest." 

I  shall  refer  to  this  again.     Let  me  say  here  only,  that 


118  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

from  this  point  onward,  every  prophecy  pointing  towards 
the  coming  "  .Regeneration ;"  every  development  towards 
it,  is  associated  with  the  sorrows  or  successes,  the  sins  or 
the  piety,  the  falling  or  the  rising  again  of  that  people. 
"  Theirs  is  the  adoption,  and  the  glory,  and  the  covenants, 
and  the  giving  of  the  law,  and  the  service  of  God  and  the 
promises;  theirs  are  the  fathers,  and  of  them  as  concern- 
ing the  flesh,  Christ  came,  who  is  over  all,  God  blessed  for- 
ever." 

At  this  point  of  God's  revelation;  inasmuch  as  this 
earth  (the  place  of  the  defeat  and  the  curse)  was  to  be  the 
place  for  the  "  Regeneration;"  as  the  abiding  victory  was 
to  be  achieved  here;  and  as  that  people  were  to  be  forever 
conspicuous  in  the  "  Regeneration  "  and  the  day  of  earth's 
new  glory,  God  begins  to  fix  the  bounds  of  their  habita- 
tion on  the  earth,  and  so  speak  of  this  habitation  as  perpet- 
ual. Both  are  made  sure  by  special  covenant.  "  Arise,  go 
through  the  land  in  the  length  of  it  and  in  the  breadth  of 
it,  and  from  the  river  of  Egypt  to  the  river  Euphrates;  for 
unto  thee  will  I  give  it,  and  to  thy  seed  after  thee  for  an 
everlasting  possession,"  (Gen.  13:  15;  17:  8.)  and  this  is 
sworn  to  by  God.  (Gen.  17.)  And  when  Moses  predicts 
their  dispersion  for  their  sins,  he  still  foretells  their  certain 
return  to  tneir  own  land.  It  is  fixed  as  their  land  forever 
by  God's  covenant,  and  he  tells  •  them  they  shall  dwell 
there  as  a  renewed  people  "  circumcised  in  heart."  (Deut. 
30:6). 

Very  soon  after,  we  begin  to  see  God  pointing  out  the 
very  family  from  which  the  coming  Victor  and  King  shall 
rise,  and  the  very  place  on  the  earth  which  He,  who  shall 
rule  all  the  nations,  shall  make  the  place  of  His  throne.  He 
is  to  be  of  the  house  of  David,  the  son  of  Jesse,  and  the 
place  of  His  throne  is  to  be  the  place  of  the  throne  of 
David  over  Israel.  That  no  solemnity  may  be  wanting, 


THE  REGENERATION.  119 

God  covenants  again  and  again  with  David  that  this  shall 
be.  "  When  thy  days  shall  be  fulfilled  and  thou  shalt  sleep 
with  thy  fathers,  I  will  set  up  thy  seed  after  thee,  which 
shall  proceed  out  of  thy  bowels,  and  I  will  establish  his 
kingdom,  and  thine  house  and  thy  kingdom  shall  be 
established  forever  before  thee;  thy  throne  shall  be  estab- 
lishcd  forever."  (2  Sam.  7:  12-16.)  So  in  speaking  of  Sol- 
omon: "  I  will  settle  him  in  mine  house  and  in  my  king- 
dom forever,  and  his  throne  shall  be  established  forever 
more."  So  David  adds;  "  Now  therefore  let  it  please  Thee 
to  bless  the  house  of  Thy  servant,  that  it  may  be  before 
Thee  forever,  for  Thou  blessest  O  L<  rd,  and  it  shall  be 
blessed  forever"  (1  Chron.  17-14.)  Thus  the  throne  which 
David  occupied  over  the  house  of  Israel  is  the  throne  on 
earth  of  the  seed  of  the  woman,  the  Lord  Christ.  Hence 
it  is  always  spoken  of  as  the  THRONE  OF  THE  LORD.  "  Then 
Solomon  sat  on  the  throne  of  the  Lord  instead  of  David 
his  father."  (1  Chron.  29:23.)  " Solomon  my  son  shall  sit 
upon  the  throne  of  the  Kingdom  of  the  Lord,  over  Israel." 
(1  Chron.  28:5.)  So  Isaiah  promises  of  the  coming  King, 
that  this  throne  of  the  Lord  over  Israel  shall  have  an  ever- 
lasting permanency.  (Is.  9:  6-7.)  u  For  unto  us  a  child  is 
born,  and  unto  us  a  son  is  given;  and  the  government  shall 
be  upon  his  shoulders,  and  his  name  shall  be  called  Wonder- 
ful, Counsellor,  the  Mighty  God,  the  Everlasting  Father,  the 
Prince  of  Peace.  Of  the  increase  of  His  government  there 
shall  be  no  end,  upon  the  throne  of  David  and  upon  his 
kingdom,  to  order  it,  and  to  establish  it  with  judgment  and 
with  justice,  from  henceforth  and  forevermore.  The  zeal 
of  the  Lord  of  Hosts  will  perform  this." 

So  Gabriel  utters  the  same  when  the  King  appears  in 
the  flesh.  "  The  Lord  God  shall  give  unto  Him  the  throne 
of  His  father  David.  Thou  shalt  call  His  name  Jesus. 
He  shall  be  great,  and  shall  be  called  the  Son  of  the 


120  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

Highest;  and  the  Lord  shall  give  unto  Him  the  throne  of 
His  father  David,  and  he  shall  reign  overythe  house  of 
Jacob  forever/  and  of  His  kingdom  there  shall  be  no  end." 

Thus,  this  earth,  as  an  abiding,  regenerated  abode,  and 
Israel's  everlasting  abode  upon  it,  and  Israel's  dominion, 
and  the  fixed  throne  of  the  coming  Deliverer,  were  already 
settled  by  Scripture. 

At  the  same  period  God  begins  to  show  more  plainly 
that  this  King's  rule  in  Zion  shall  go  far  beyond  Israel, 
and  that  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  amidst  peace  and 
plenty,  shall  share  His  beneficent  dominion.  The  church 
of  that  day  sings  it  in  the  songs  of  the  Tabernacle  and 
Temple.  They  sing  of  "  His  dominion  from  sea  to  sea, 
and  from  the  river  to  the  ends  of  the  earth."  Yea,  that 
"  all  nations  shall  serve  Him,  and  all  kings  shall  bow  down 
before  Him."  "  There  shall  be  an  handful  of  corn  in  the 
top  of  the  mountain,  the  fruit  thereof  shall  shake  like 
Lebanon."  And  in  correspondence  with  the  truth  of  an 
everlasting  kingdom  on  the  earth;  they  sing  of  the  "  earth 
itself  that  it  can  not  be  moved  but  abideth  forever,"  of  the 
earth  as  "  given  of  the  Lord  to  the  children  of  men  for 
their  habitation."  Yea,  they  sing  too  of  the  Almighty's 
determination  (against  all  the  rage  of  the  peoples  and  the 
opposition  of  kings)  to  set  His  King  on  that  holy  hill  of 
Zion,  and  to  give  him  a  sceptre  to  dash  rebellious  kings  in 
pieces,  and  then  to  win  possession  of  all  nations  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth  as  His  inheritance. 

Thus  we  have,  up  to  this  point  of  revelation,  the  earth 
fixed  as  the  place  of  "  the  Regeneration  "  and  as  the  perma- 
nent residence  of  redeemed  and  renovated  mankind.  We 
have  designated,  for  us,  the  very  Seed  of  the  woman  who 
is  to  be  the  Victor  and  Deliverer  and  King.  We  have  II  is 
appointed  instruments  for  conveying  salvation  to  the  other 
nations.  We  have  the  permanent  place  of  that  Nation 


THE  REGENERATION. 


established.  We  have  the  place  of  the  royal  and  everlast- 
ing throne  upon  the  renewed  earth  ;  and  we  have  the  whole 
earth  of  nations  united  in  their  homage  and  their  joy  in 
His  everlasting  reign;  while  the  earth  itself  in  her  returned 
fruitfulness  sings  in  sympathetic  joy;  "  say  ye  among  the 
nations,  The  Lord  reigneth  —  the  world  is  fixed,  it  shall  not 
be  moved;  He  shall  judge  the  peoples  with  rectitude.  Let  - 
the  heavens  rejoice,  and  let  the  earth  be  glad;  let  the  sea 
roar  and  the  fullness  thereof.  Let  the  field  be  joyful,  and 
all  that  is  therein;  then  shall  all  the  trees  of  the  wood 
rejoice  before  the  Lord,  for  He  cometh  to  judge  the  earth. 
He  shall  judge  the  world  with  righteousness  and  the  nations 
in  His  faithfulness." 

Thus  far,  up  to  the  reigns  of  David  and  Solomon,  we 
have  one  unvarying  view  of  the  matter  and  one  common 
expectation  of  the  church  as  to  the  coming  day  of  glory; 
as  expressed  by  all  her  prophets  and  sung  in  all  her  joyful 
songs  in  anticipation  of  its  realization.  And  let  us  carefully 
note  that  there  is  not  one  word  or  hint  to  intimate  that  the 
church  was  in  error  in  these  expectations,  nor  that  a  higher 
or  different  meaning  was  to  be  attached  to  these  prophetic 
statements  from  that  which  the  plain  and  natural  sense  of 
the  language  conveyed,  and  was  understood  to  convey.  And 
therefore  the  church  as  a  matter  of  course,  joined  together, 
as  necessary  concomitants,  God's  emphatic  blessing  upon 
the  race  of  Israel  —  the  presence  of  the  King  Messiah 
on  the  throne  —  the  salvation  and  holiness  of  all  the 
race  to  follow,  and  as  a  consequence  also,  the  renovation  of 
the  earth  itself.  And  so  they  sang  and  so  they  prayed  in 
their  songs.  "  God  be  merciful  unto  us;  and  bless  us,  and 
cause  His  face  to  shine  upon  us;  so  that  Thy  way  be 
known  upon  earth,  in  all  nations  Thy  salvation.  The  nations 
shall  acknowledge  Thee,  O  God,  yea,  all  the  nations  shall 
acknowledge  Thee.  The  nations  shall  joy  and  triumph 


122  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

because  Thou  shalt  judge  the  peoples  in  uprightness,  and 
shalt  guide  the  nations  in  the  earth.  The  nations  shall 
acknowledge  Thee,  O  God,  yea,  all  the  nations  shall 
acknowledge  Thee.  The  earth  has  yielded  her  increase  and 
God,  our  own  God  will  bless  us;  God  will  bless  us  arid  all 
the  ends  of  the  earth  shall  fear  Him."  (Ps.  67). 

Before  opening  the  later  prophets,  let  me  again  recall 
that  one  great  fact,  already  alluded  to,  which  pervades  the 
Scriptures.  I  mean  the  fact  that  there  are  two  instruments 
recognized  by  God  for  convoying  His  salvation  to  the 
nations,  and  restoring  the  world  at  length  to  His  allegiance. 
Two;  the  first,  and  above  all,  the  centre  of  all,  His  own 
Son,  the  seed  of  Abraham,  the  Christ;  the  blessing  of  all 
the  nations.  And,  secondarily,  in  subordination  to  Christ, 
as  an  external  means,  God's  first  born  Son,  the  seed  of 
Abraham  —  the  national  Israel;  the  blessing  to  all  the 
nations.  And  this  is  true  in  every  successive  dispensation; 
and  in  the  last  dispensation  emphatically.  Just  as  the 
promise  made  to  Abraham,  "  In  thee  and  in  thy  seed  shall 
all  the  nations  of  the  earth  be  blessed,  had  a  primary  and 
pre-eminent  reference  to  Christ,  so  it  has  also  a  secondary 
reference  to  Israel.  Says  Dr.  Addison  Alexander,  in  his 
commentary  upon  the  42d  chapter  of  Isaiah,  k'  The  Messiah 
and  His  church  (Israel)  are  the  representatives  of  God 
among  the  nations.  The  term  '  servant '  is  applied  to  both 
in  this  sense,  and  is  rendered  in  the  New  Testament  by 
TraZf,  pais;  a  word  meaning  both  son  and  servant."  "The 
doctrine  taught  is  that  Israel's  segregation  from  the  rest  of 
mankind  as  a  peculiar  people  was  an  act  of  sovereignty 
independent  of  all  merit  in  themselves,  and  not  even 
intended  for  their  benefit  exclusively,  but  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  God's  gracious  purposes  respecting  men  in 
general."  "Hence  the  same  thing  might  be  predicated  to 
a  great  extent  of  both.  As  the  Messiah  was  the  messenger 


THE  REGENERATION. 


and  servant  of  God  to  the  nations,  so  was  Israel.  It  was 
his  (Israel's)  mission  also  to  diffuse  the  true  religion  and 
reclaim  the  nations."  "Xot  only  the  Messiah,  but  the 
Israel  of  God  was  to  be  a  mediator  or  connecting  link 
between  Jehovah  and  the  nations."  "From  the  very  first 
it  was  intended  that  the  law  should  go  forth  from  Zion  and 
the  word  of  the  Lord  from  Jerusalem."  And  he  goes  on  to 
show  how  the  different  applications  of  this  honorable  title? 
u  my  servant  "  are  to  be  distinguished  as  applied  to  Christ 
or  to  Israel,  so  as  to  avoid  confusion.  This  commentator 
does  indeed,  as  is  common,  after  all  transfer  the  word 
"  Israel"  in  many  passages  to  the  church  in  general.  But 
the  prophet's  word,  and  the  prophet's  only  word  is  Israel. 
And  it  is  the  fact  that  the  prophets  do  all  along  proclaim 
the  Messiah  and  Israel  as  God's  two  appointed  means  for 
blessing  the  earth  with  salvation,  to  which  I  call  attention. 

That  God  has  thus  used  Israel  in  all  the  past,  is  by  general 
admission  clear  both  from  Scripture  and  from  experience. 
It  is,  by  general  admission,  clear  in  Scripture  and  experience 
as  to  the  present  also.  For  all  admit  that  it  has  been 
"  Israel's  fall  which  has  been  the  riches  of  the  world,"  and 
"  their  diminishing  which  has  been  the  riches  of  the  Gen- 
tiles." All  admit  that  the  "  casting  of  them  away,  has  been 
the  reconciling  of  the  world."  And  the  fact  is  clear,  from 
Scripture  at  least,  if  not  by  general  admission,  that  in 
the  future  also,  the  receiving  of  them  again  will  bring  to 
the  world,  at  large,  life  from  the  dead. 

Another  consideration  before  opening  the  later  prophets. 
Up  to  this  point  in  the  Scripture,  Israel,  the  appointed  instru- 
ment for  the  conveying  the  knowledge  of  salvation  to  the 
nations,  is  in  honor  and  prosperity.  But  now  comes  Israel's 
decadence.  Is  there  then  any  change  to  be  made  in  the 
nature  of  the  future  Kegeneration  or  its  accomplishment? 
We  open  the  later  prophets,  and  the  scene  widens  and 


124  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

brightens  until  the  whole  earth  is  filled  with  glory.  Do 
these  later  prophets  in  all  this  indicate  any  alteration  of 
God's  plan,  or  do  they  clearly  maintain  the  same  views 
respecting  the  Regeneration?  Do  they  declare  that  Israel 
shall  be  such  an  instrument  of  blessing  to  the  nations,  not 
only  before  Christ's  time:  nor  onlv  during  the  time  of  their 

v  «/  O 

own  blindness  and  unbelief,  but  also  in  the  Messiah's  days, 
and  upon  their  return  to  him? 

To  answer  this  question  intelligently,  let  me,  before 
referring  to  these  later  prophets,  point  you  to  an  inspired 
declaration  on  this  whole  subject.  It  is  a  declaration  of 
the  New  Testament  which  brings  together  the  Regenera- 
tion of  the  earth;  the  necessary  presence  of  the  returning 
King  to  accomplish  it,  and  the  part  depressed  Israel  is  to 
perform  in  the  fulfillment.  It  is  just  the  old  song  which 
the  church  had  always  heard,  but  now  sung  in  clearer 
strains  and  more  thrilling  chords,  under  the  brighter  light 
of  the  New  Testament  dispensation.  I  refer  to  the  cele- 
brated passage  in  Acts  3: 17-21. 

I  shall  read  this  passage,  not  exactly  as  it  stands  in  our 
version,  but  with  an  amendment  in  the  19th  and  20th 
verses,  according  to  the  best  criticism.  This  criticism 
makes  the  words  ttirus'av  when  followed  by  subjunctives,  to 
mean  not  "  when,"  as  in  the  English  version,  but  "  in  order 
that."  It  is  thus  that  all  the  best  scholars  render  the 
passage.  Let  us  observe  now,  that  Peter  the  Apostle  is 
.speaking  to  the  Jewish  people.  He  has  charged  them  and 
their  rulers  (that  is,  Israel  as  a  nation)  with  slaying  the 
Christ  of  God.  He  admits,  that  as  rulers  and  people  they 
had  done  it  in  ignorance;  and  that  by  their  error,  the 
counsel  of  God,  that  the  Christ  must,  according  to  all  the 
prophets,  suffer  at  their  hands  had  been-  fulfilled.  To  this 
Jewish  nation  he  now  appeals;  and  His  words  accurately 
rendered,  ran  as  follows:  "  Repent  ye,  therefore,  and  be 


THE  REGENERATION.  125 

converted  that  your  sins  may  be  blotted  out,  in  order  that 
there  may  come  times  of  refreshing  from  the  presence  of 
the  Lord;  and  that  He  may  send  Jesus  Christ,  who  was 

before   appointed    (rbv  TrpoKex^p^evov  ofuv  Irjaovv  Xpiarbv)    to    YOU", 

whom,  indeed,  the  heavens  must  receive  until  (the)  times 
of  the  restitution  (or  restoring)  of  all  things  which  God 
has  spoken  of  by  all  His  Holy  Prophets,  from  of  old  " 


Now,  taking  these  words,  in  their  plain  sense,  they  teach 
as  follows: 

1.  That  there  is  to  be  a  time  or  "  times  "  for  the  restitu- 
tion of  all  things;  an  airoKaTdaraai^  —  a  process  of  restoring; 
or  bringing  these  things  back  from  a  state  of  disorder  or 
decay. 

2.  That  it  shall  extend  to  all  parts  of  the  creation  wherein 
the  disorder  has  been  felt;  for  it  is  an  dTro/cardcn-amf  Tnivrwv,  a 
rehabilitation  of  all  things;  and  hence  of  the  physical  as 
well  as  the  spiritual  condition  of  the  earth  and  of  its  inhab- 
itants, the  wiping  out  of  Eden's  curse. 

3.  That  this  restitution  of  all  things  has  been  a  theme 
upon  which  God  has  been  dwelling,  by  the  mouth  of  all 
His  Holy  Prophets  from  the  very  beginning,  hence  it  must 
be  plainly  discoverable  and  easily  identified  in  the  concur- 
rent testimony  of  all  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures. 

4.  That  this  restitution  is  to  take  place  in  connection 
with  the  return  of  Jesus  the  Christ  from  heaven  ;  the  Christ 
who  was  "  before  appointed  "  as  the  Messiah  to  the  Jews, 
and  who  having  been  rejected  and  slain  by  that  nation,  has 
risen  and  gone  into  heaven. 

5.  That  this   restitution  can  not  take  place  before  His 
return;  because  it  is  necessary   (del)  that  He  should  remain 
in  heaven,  whither  He  has  gone,  until  the  times  for  the 
restoring    of    all  things   arrive;    and    when    these    times 
arrive,  God  will  "  send  Him." 


126  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

6.  That  these  "  times  "  of  the  restoring  of  all  things  are 
clearly  associated  with  certain  times  of  "  refreshing,"  (as  he 
calls  them)  which  are  to  come  on  the  Jewish  people;  (aimfigeoc) 
times  of  reviving,  of  bringing  up,  to  life  and  vigor  again, 
that  nation  after  a  decline. 

7.  That  these"  times  "  of  reviving  or  refreshing,  which  are 
to   come  on  the  Jewish  nation,  are  intimately  associated 
with  their  national  repentance  and  conversion  in  reference  to 
the  national  crime  of  slaying  their  Messiah.     For  upon  this 
national  repentance  and  conversion  their  sins  (just  spoken 
of  and  charged  upon  the  nation)  shall  be  blotted  out,  and 
the  times  of  refreshing  will  come. 

8.  And  finally,  that  when   this  national  repentance  and 
conversion  shall  take  place,  and  there  come  the  times  of 
reviving   to    the  nation,  God  will  then  send  forth  Jesus 
Christ  from  heaven  to  that  people  whose  Messiah  He  had 
"  before  appointed  "  Him  to  be,  and  then  shall  commence 
and  go  on  that  process  of  "  Restitution  "  which  extends  to 
the  whole  earth;  the  restoration  of  all  things,  by  virtue  of 
the  interpenetrating  and  glorifying  power  of  the  resurrec- 
tion-life of  Christ,  when  the  last  vestige  of  the  curse  will 
be  removed,  and  He  that  sitteth  on  the  throne  will  say, 
"  See,  I  have  made  all  things  new." 

Let  us  notice  now,  very  particularly,  that  the  Apostle 
distinctly  declares,  that  these  important  events  are  con- 
stantly exhibited,  and  in  this  same  connection  throughout 
all  the  pages  of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures.  Certainly 
then  they  must  be  so  plain  that  he  who  runs  may  read 
them  there.  Upon  the  surface  of  the  Old  Testament 
Scriptures  must  lie  these  very  things  sanctioned  by  an 
inspired  apostle  in  the  New.  They  are  such  things  as 
would  naturally  present  themselves  to  any  ordinary  reader 
of  the  Word.  They  are  such  as  need  no  additional  revela- 
tion to  disclose  their  true  meaning.  In  a  word,  that  mean- 


THE  REGENERATION. 


ing  can  not  certainly  be  different  from  the  plain  grammat- 
ical sense. 

Do  we  find  these  things  then  thus  placed  there?  Israel 
recognized  as  God's  appointed  channel  for  bringing  in  the 
day  of  blessing  to  all  the  earth?  Israel  nevertheless  des- 
cribed so  low  down  as  to  be  below  even  other  nations 
in  blindness  and  sin;  cast  out,  abhorred  by  men;  and  their 
land  a  desolation,  at  the  very  time  when  they  are  associated 
with  the  great  and  final  deliverance  of  the  earth?  Israel 
penitent  as  a  nation  when  lowest  down;  and  then  elevated 
to  more  than  their  former  glory  and  holiness?  Israel  thus 
revived  in  the  presence  of  their  returned  King  the  once 
rejected  Messiah?  Shall  we  find  all  this  associated  with 
the  overthrow  of  all  evil,  and  the  prevalence  of  blessed- 
ness and  holiness,  throughout  the  whole  earth?  Finally, 
shall  we  find  all  this  presented  as  the  true  realization  of 
the  day  of  glory  wherein  "  the  heavens  and  the  earth  shall 
be  made  new?" 

We  are  now  ready  to  open  the  later  prophets;  and  we 
shall  see  all  these  particulars  just  thus  conjoined  together 
and  confirmed  throughout. 

We  turn  first  to  the  prophet  Isaiah.  I  might  point 
briefly  to  his  earlier  prophecies,  as  for  example,  to  that  in 
chapters  24  to  27.  There  we  have  a  striking  picture, 
in  which  are  set  forth  several  of  the  features  just  men- 
tioned. 

1.  The  scattering  of  Israel,  their  great  depression,  and 
their  prayer  in  penitence. 

11  Thou  hast  increased  the  nation,  O  Lord  ;  thou  hast  increased  the 
nation.  Thou  art  glorified.  Thou  hast  removed  it  far  unto  the  ends  of 
the  earth.  Lord,  in  trouble  have  they  visited  Thee,  they  poured  out  a 
prayer  when  Thy  chastening  was  upon  them."  (26:  15.) 

2.  The  time  of  their  visitation   by  miraculous   deliver- 
ance, in  order  to  their  restoration  and  final  glory. 


SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


"  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day  that  the  Lord  shall  beat  off 
from  the  channel  of  the  river  unto  the  stream  of  Egypt,  and  ye  shall  be 
gathered  one  by  one,  O  ye  children  of  Israel,  and  the  outcasts  shall  wor- 
ship the  Lord  in  the  mount  at  Jerusalem."  (29:  12.) 

3.  The  vengeance  of  God  against  all  the  nations  at  that 
time  to  prepare  the  way  for  His  Kingdom. 

"  Behold  the  Lord  maketh  the  earth  empty,  He  maketh  it  waste—  the 
curse  had  devoured  the  earth,  and  they  that  dwell  therein  are  desolate; 
therefore,  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  are  burned  and  few  men  left; 
and  in  that  day,  the  Lord  shall  punish  the  host  of  the  high  ones  on  high, 
and  the  kings  of  the  earth  upon  the  earth."  (Ch.  24.) 

4.  The  visible  presence  of  the  King  reigning  in  glory. 

"  Then  the  moon  shall  be  confounded  and  the  sun  shall  be  ashamed, 
when  the  Lord  of  Hosts  shall  reign  in  Mount  Zion  and  in  Jerusalem 
and  before  His  ancients  gloriously."  (Ch.  24:23.) 

5.  The  effect  of  Israel's  return  upon  the  whole  world. 

"  He  shall  cause  them  that  come  of  Jacob  to  take  root  ;  Israel  shall 
blossom  and  bud  and  fill  the  face  of  the  world  with  fruit."  (27  :  6.) 

6.  And,  finally,  the  redemption  of  all  the  earth,  the  com- 
plete deliverance  from  the  curse. 

"  And  in  this  mountain  shall  the  Lord  of  Hosts  make  unto  all  people 
a  feast  of  fat  things,  a  feast  of  wine  upon  the  lees,  of  fat  things  full  of 
marrow,  of  wines  on  the  lees  well  refined.  And  He  will  destroy  in  this 
mountain  the  face  of  the  covering  cast  over  all  people,  and  the  veil  that 
is  spread  over  all  nations.  He  will  swallow  up  death  in  victory;  and 
the  Lord  God  will  wipe  away  tears  from  all  faces;  and  the  rebuke  of 
His  people  will  He  take  away  from  off  all  the  earth;  for  the  Lord  hath 
spoken  it  And  it  shall  be  said  in  that  day,  Lo,  this  is  our  God  ;  we 
have  waited  for  Him,  and  He  will  save  us;  this  is  the  Lord;  we  have 
waited  for  Him,  we  will  be  glad  and  rejoice  in  His  salvation.  (25  :  6-9. 

I  direct  attention  particularly,  however,  to  what  are 
usually  called  Isaiah's  later  prophecies.  These  constitute 
one  continued  prophecy.  They  begin  with  the  40th 
chapter  and  run  on  to  the  close  of  the  book.  This  con- 
tinued prophecy  brings  out  in  strong  relief  all  the  several 
features  alluded  to.  It  begins  with  the  cry,  "Comfort  ye, 
comfort  ye,  my  people,  saith  your  God;  speak  ye  comfort- 
ably to  Jerusalem,  and  say  unto  her  that  her  warfare  is 


THE  REGENERATION. 


accomplished."  It  traces  the  course  of  the  Church  of  God 
and  of  Israel  to  the  end,  and  it  closes  with  a  view  of 
Jerusalem  come  up  out  of  her  unbelief  and  sin  and  sor- 
row, a  praise  in  "  the  new  heavens  and  new  earth  wherein 
dwelleth  righteousness;"  the  mighty  and  rebellious  of  the 
earth,  finally,  overthrown  by  God's  judgments;  the  aboli- 
tion of  all  evil  from  the  earth;  and  the  whole  Gentile 
world  at  last  made  holy  worshippers  before  the  Lord,  and 
rejoicing  in  Israel's  glory. 

"  Behold  I  create  new  heavens  and  a  new  earth;  and  the  former  shall 
not  be  remembered  nor  come  into  mind.  But  be  ye  glad  and  rejoice 
forever  in  that  which  I  create;  for  behold,  I  create  Jerusalem  a  rejoic- 
ing, and  her  people  a  joy.  And  I  will  rejoice  in  Jerusalem,  and  joy  in- 
my  people  ;  and  the  voice  of  weeping  shall  be  no  more  heard  in  her, 
nor  the  voice  of  crying.  The  wolf  and  the  lamb  shall  feed  together,  and 
the  lion  shall  eat  straw  like  the  bullock;  and  dust  shall  be  the  serpent's 
meat.  They  shall  not  hurt  nor  destroy  in  all  My  holy  mountain,  saith 
the  Lord.  For  behold  the  Lord  will  come  with  fire,  and  with  His 
chariots  like  a  whirlwind,  to  render  His  anuer  with  fury,  and  His 
rebuke  with  flames  of  fire.  For  by  fire  and  His  sword  will  the  Lord 
plead  with  all  flesh  ;  and  the  slain  of  the  Lord  shall  be  many.  And 
they  shall  bring  all  your  brethren  for  an  offering  unto  the  Lord,  out  of 
all  nations,  upon  horses  and  in  chariots,  and  in  litters,  and  upon  mules, 
and  upon  swift  beasts,  to  my  holy  mountain  Jerusalem,  saith  the  Lord, 
as  the  children  of  Israel  bring  an  offering  in  a  clean  vessel  into  the 
House  of  the  Lord.  And  I  will  take  of  them  for  priests  and  for  Levites, 
saith  the  Lord.  For  as  the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth,  which  I 
will  make,  shall  remain  before  Me,  saith  the  Lord,  so  shall  your  seed 
and  your  name  remain.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  from  one  new 
moon  to  another,  and  from  one  Sabbath  to  another,  shall  all  flesh  come 
to  worship  before  Me,  saith  the  Lord."  (Ch.  65:17-25;  66:  10,  16,  20,  23.) 

Now,  in  considering  this  prophecy,  we  are  to  notice  how 
God,  in  the  outset,  marks  it  as  a  wonder  of  wonders  that 
depressed  Israel  should  be  raised  up  to  be  such  a  means  of 
blessing,  as  a  thing  not  only  beyond  human  contrivance, 
but  a  thing  deemed  impossible  even  when  foretold;  and 
how  this  prophecy  begins,  therefore  (chap.  40),  by  showing 
that  His  almighty  power  is  the  only  hope  for  such  a  change. 
9 


130  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

"  Behold,  the  Lord  God  will  come  with  a  strong  hand,  and  His  arm 
shall  rule  for  Him;  behold,  His  reward  is  with  Him,  and  His  work 
before  Him.  Who  hath  measured  the  waters  in  the  hollow  of  His 
hand,  and  meted  out  the  heavens  with  a  span,  and  comprehended  the 
dust  of  the  earth  in  a  measure,  and  weighed  the  mountains  in  scales, 
and  the  hills  in  a  balance?  Hast  thou  not  known,  hast  thou  not  heard 
that  the  Everlasting  God,  the  Lord,  the  Creator  of  the  ends  of  the  earth 
fainteth  not,  neither  is  weary;  there  is  no  searching  of  His  UDder- 
starding.  He  giveth  power  to  the  faint.  *  *  *  They  that  wait  upon 
the  Lord  shall  mount  up  with  wings  as  eagles ;  they  shall  run  and  not 
be  weary;  they  shall  walk  and  not  faint." 

Note,  next,  how  He  shows  (chap.  41)  that  He  had  already 
done  great  wonders  for  'Israel  in  the  past  (in  leading  them 
out  of  Egypt),  and  that  He  would  do  like  wonders  for  them 
in  the  future  (by  Cyrus  in  Babylon),  and  that  this  would 
be  a  pledge  of  God's  arm  being  exerted  for  their  final 
elevation. 

Then,  after  introducing  His  two  servants  for  blessing  the 
earth — Christ  and  Israel — (chap.  42:1-16),  see  how  He 
admits  the  perverse  blindness  to  which  His  servant  Israel 
would  come.  "  Hear  ye,  deaf,  and  look  ye,  blind,  that  ye 
may  see.  Who  is  blind  but  My  servant  ?  or  deaf  as  My 
messenger  that  I  sent  ?  Who  is  blind  as  he  that  is  perfect, 
and  blind  as  the  Lord's  servant  ?  Seeing  many  things,  but 
thou  observest  not;  opening  the  ears,  but  he  heareth  not." 
(vv.  18-30.)  This  is  exactly  that  spiritual  blindness  of 
which  Christ  so  plainly  accuses  them — an  accusation  which 
Paul  the  Apostle  again  and  again  repeats.  They  were  "  a 
people  who  had  eyes  and  saw  not,  and  ears  and  heard  not, 
and  whose  heart  was  waxed  gross." 

See  how  He  admits  and  predicts  their  deep  depression, 
too,  as  a  nation,  ruled  over  without  any  redress.  "  But 
this  is  a  people  robbed  and  spoiled,  they  are  all  of  them 
snared  in  holes;  and  they  are  hid  in  prison  houses;  they 
are  for  a  prey,  and  none  delivereth;  and  for  a  spoil,  and 
none  saith  restore."  (vs.  22.) 


THE  REGENERATION. 


See  how  He  foretells  the  utter  unwillingness  of  men  to 
admit  that  this  change  can  take  place.  "  Who  among  you 
will  give  ear  to  this  ?  Who  will  hearken  and  hear  for  the 
time  to  come  ?  To  what  ? 

First.  To  God's  reason  for  Israel's  depression:  "Who 
gave  Jacob  for  a  spoil  and  Israel  to  the  robbers?  Did  not 
the  Lord  against  whom  we  have  sinned,  for  they  would  not 
walk  in  His  ways,  nor  were  they  obedient  to  His  law;  there- 
fore, He  hath  poured  upon  him  the  fury  of  His  anger,  and  yet 
He  knew  it  not;  He  laid  it  not  to  heart."  (vv.  22,  23.) 

And,  secondly,  to  the  certain  assurance,  on  the  part  of 
God,  that,  notwithstanding  their  depression  and  sin,  Israel 
should  be  restored  to  honor  and  blessing  which  is  now  so 
clearly  stated  in  the  next  chapter  : 

"  But,  now,  thus  saith  the  Lord  that  created  thee,  O  Jacob,  and  He 
that  formed  thee^  O  Israel.  Fear  not  ;  for  I  have  redeemed  thee  ;  I 
have  called  thee  by  My  name;  thou  art  Mine.  When  thou  passest 
through  the  waters,  I  will  be  with  thee  ;  and  through  the  rivers,  they 
shall  not  overflow  thee  ;  when  thou  walkest  through  the  fire,  thou  shalt 
not  be  burned  ;  neither  shall  the  flame  kindle  upon  thee.  For  I  am  thy 
Lord  thy  God,  the  Holy  One  of  Israel,  thy  Saviour;  I  gave  Egypt  for 
thy  ransom,  Ethiopia  and  Seba  for  thee.  Since  thou  wast  precious  in 
My  sight,  thou  hast  been  honorable,  and  I  have  loved  thee  ;  therefore,  I 
will  give  men  for  thee,  and  people  for  thy  life.  Fear  not;  for  I  am  with 
thee.  I  will  bring  thy  seed  from  the  east,  and  gather  thee  from  the 
west  ;  I  will  say  to  the  north,  give  up,  and  to  the  south,  keep  not  back  ; 
bring  my  sons  from  far,  and  my  daughters  from  the  ends  of  the  earth. 
Even  every  one  that  is  called  by  My  name,  for  I  have  created  him  for 
My  glory;  I  have  formed  him,  yea,  I  have  made  him.  This  people 
have  I  formed  for  myself;  they  shall  show  forth  My  praise."  (43: 
1-6;  v.  21.) 

JSTote,  next,  how  He  marks  their  sins,  and  shows  that 
their  future  pre-eminence  was  not  to  be  for  their  holiness. 
"  Thou  hast  not  called  upon  Me,  O  Jacob,  but  thou  hast 
been  weary  of  Me,  O  Israel;  thou  hast  made  Me  to  serve 
with  thy  sins,  and  hast  wearied  me  with  thine  iniquities." 
(vv.  22,  24.) 


132  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

Then  comes  the  same  cause  for  the  reviving  of  Israel; 
God's  own  honor  and  God's  faithfulness  shall  overcome 
their  grievous  unworthiness,  and  still  give  them  restora- 
tion, holiness,  and  elevation. 

"  I,  even  I,  am  He  that  blotteth  out  thy  transgressions  for  Mine  own 
sake,  and  will  not  remember  thy  sins.  Put  Me  in  remembrance ;  let  us 
plead  together ;  declare  thou,  that  thou  inayest  be  justified.  Thy  first 
father  hath  sinned,  and  thy  teachers  have  transgressed  against  Me. 
Therefore,  I  have  profaned  the  princes  of  the  sanctuary,  and  have  given 
Jacob  to  the  curse,  and  Israel  to  reproaches.  Yet,  now,  hear,  O  Jacob, 
My  servant;  and  Israel  whom  I  have  chosen;  thus  saith  the  Lord  that 
made  thee,  and  formed  thee  from  the  womb,  which  will  help  thee.  Fear 
not,  O  Jacob,  My  servant ;  and  thou  Jeshurun,  whom  I  have  chosen ; 
for  I  will  pour  water  on  him  that  is  thirsty,  and  floods  upon  the  dry 
ground ;  I  will  pour  My  Spirit  upon  thy  seed,  and  My  blessing  upon 
thine  offspring.  And  they  shall  spring  up  as  among  the  grass,  as  wil- 
lows by  the  water  courses.  One  shall  say,  I  am  the  Lord's;  and  another 
shall  call  himself  by  the  name  of  Jacob;  and  another  shall  subscribe 
with  his  hand  unto  the  Lord,  and  surname  himself* with  the  name  of 
Israel."  (43:25-28;  44:1-6.) 

And  mark,  finally,  how  God  predicts  that  this  elevation 
of  Israel  will  be  such  a  wonder,  that  when  it  is  accom- 
plished that  redeemed  nation  shall  stand  forth  before  all 
the  earth  as  the  certain  proof,  the  "  witnesses "  that 
Jehovah  alone  who  hath  done  it  is  God. 

"  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  the  King  of  Israel,  and  His  Redeemer,  the 
Lord  of  "Hosts;  I  am  the  first,  and  I  am  the  last;  and  beside  Me  there 
is  no  God.  And  who,  as  I,  shall  call,  and  shall  declare  it,  and  set  it  in 
order  for  Me,  since  I  appointed  the  ancient  people  ?  And  the  things 
that  are  coming,  and  shall  come,  let  them  show  unto  them.  Fear  ye 
not,  neither  be  afraid ;  have  not  I  told  thee  from  that  time,  and  have 
declared  it?  Ye  are  even  My  witnesses.  Is  there  a  God  besides  Me? 
Yea,  there  is  no  God ;  I  know  not  any.  Bring  forth  the  blind  people 
that  have  eyes,  and  the  deaf  that  have  ears.  Let  all  the  nations  be 
gathered  together,  and  let  the  people  be  assembled ;  who  among  them 
can  declare  this,  and  show  us  former  things?  Let  them  bring  forth 
their  witnesses,  that  they  may  be  justified;  or,  let  them  hear  and  say  it 
is  truth.  Ye  are  My  witnesses,  saith  the  Lord,  and  My  servants  whom 
I  have  chosen ;  that  ye  may  know  and  believe  Me,  and  understand  that 


THE  REGENERATION.  133 

I  am  He ;  before  Me  there  was  no  God  formed,  neither  shall  there  be 
after  Me.  I,  even  I,  am  the  Lord ;  and  beside  Me  there  is  no  Saviour. 
I  have  declared,  and  have  saved,  and  I  have  showed  when  there  was  no 
strange  God  among  you;  therefore,  ye  are  My  witnesses,  saith  the  Lord, 
that  I  am  God."  (44 :  6-8 ;  43 :  8-13.) 

From  this  point  the  prophecy  goes  on.  He  predicts 
Israel's  certain  restoration  after  their  captivity  in  Babylon 
under  Cyrus,  and  for  the  same  reason,  viz.,  God's  faithful- 
ness to  that  people  and  God's  power  to  accomplish  it;  and 
as  illustrating  (not  as  the  main  subject  of  the  prophecy) 
the  real  theme,  their  future  restoration.  (Chaps.  45  to  48.) 

He  then  points  forward  to  the  time  when  all  the  earth, 
Jew  and  Gentile,  shall  be  redeemed  by  Christ.  And  now 
he  brings  forward  again  God's  two  servants  for  accomplish- 
ing the  work. 

First,  we  have  the  servant  Israel  speaking. 

"  Listen,  O  isles  unto  me,  and  hearken  and  hearken,  ye  people  from 
far ;  the  Lord  hath  called  me  from  the  .womb ;  from  the  bowels  of  my 
mother  had  He  made  mention  of  my  name;  and  He  hath  made  my 
mouth  like  a  sharp  sword;  in  the  shadow  of  His  hand  hath  He  hid 
me;  and  made  me  a  polished  shaft;  in  His  quiver  hath  He  hid  me;  and 
said  unto  me  Thou  art  my  servant,  O  Israel,  in  whom  I  will  be  glori- 
fied." (Ch.  49 : 1-3.) 

Then,  we  have  introduced  the  other  servant,  the  Messiah, 
mourning  that  He  had  not  accomplished  the  purpose  of 
gathering  Israel  to  God,  and  receiving  the  certain  promise 
that  He  should  not  only  do  this,  but  in  doing  it,  should 
bless  all  the  earth  with  salvation. 

"Then  I  said,  I  have  labored  in  vain;  I  have  spent  my  strength  for 
naught  and  in  vain;  yet  surely  my  judgment  is  with  the  Lord  and  my 
work  with  my  God ;  and  now,  saith  the  Lord  that  formed  me  from  the 
womb  to  his  servant,  to  bring  Jacob  again  to  Him ;  though  Israel  be  not 
gathered,  yet  shall  I  be  glorious  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord,  and  my  God 
shall  be  my  strength;  and  He  said,  is  it  a  light  thing  that  thou  shouldst 
be  my  servant  to  rise  up  the  tribes  of  Jacob,  and  to  restore  the  preserved 
of  Israel  ?  I  will  also  give  thee  for  a  light  to  the  Gentiles,  that  thou 
mayest  be  My  salvation  to  the  end  of  the  earth.  Thus  saith  the  Lord, 
the  Redeemer  of  Israel,  and  His  Holy  One,  to  him  whom  man  despiseth, 


134  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

to  him  whom  the  nation  abhorreth,  to  a  servant  of  rulers,  Kings  shall 
see  and  arise,  princes  also  shall  worship,  because  of  the  Lord  that  is 
faithful,  and  the  Holy  One  of  Israel,  and  he  shall  choose  thee.  Thus 
saith  the  Lord;  in  an  acceptable  time  have  I  heard  thee,  and  in  a  day  of 
salvation  have  I  helped  thee;  and  I  will  preserve  Lhee  and  give  thee  for 
a  covenant  of  (he  people,  to  establish  the  earth,  to  cause  to  inherit  the 
desolate  heritages."  (Ch.  49 :  4-13.) 

Next  we  have  Israel's  doubt  of  the  probabilities  of  such 
a  use  being  made  of  him  by  the  Lord,  and  God's  answer: 

"  But  Zion  said :  The  Lord  hath  forsaken  me,  my  God  hath  forgotten 
me.  Can  a  woman  forget  her  sucking  child ;  that  she  should  not  have 
compassion  on  the  son  of  her  womb  ?  Yea,  they  may  forget,  yet  will 
I  not  forget  thee.  Behold  I  have  graven  thee  on  the  palms  of  my 
hands;  thy  walls  are  continually  before  me.  Thy  children  shall  make 
haste;  thy  destroyers  and  they  that  made  thee  waste  shall  go  forth  of 
thee.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God.  Behold,  I  will  lift  up  my  hand  to  the 
Gentiles,  and  set  up  my  standard  to  the  peoples;  and  they  shall  bring 
thy  sons  in  their  arms,  and  thy  daughters  shall  be  carried  upon  their 
shoulders;  and  kings  shall  be  thy  nursing  fathers  and  queens  thy 
nursing  mothers.  (Ch.  49 : 14-23.) 

And  now  the  prophecy  lifts  the  veil  and  discloses  to  us 
the  present  dispensation.  And  here  we  sec  predicted  in 
sad  colors  the  coming  of  the  Messiah  and  Israel's  strange 
rejection  of  Him  in  their  unbelief  and  blindness;  and,  yet, 
notwithstanding  this,  the  Messiah's  glory  and  triumph  in 
his  very  rejection  and  death.  (Chaps.  52  and  53.)  "  Who 
hath  believed  our  report,"  etc.  This  brings  us  to  the  day 
of  the  Gentiles  profiting  by  Israel's  fall — our  day  of  grace. 

Here  at  length  the  tone  changes,  arid  the  prophet  now 
begins  to  sing  of  Israel's  return  and  engagement  and  glory. 
(Chap.  54.)  "  Sing,  O  barren,  them  that  didst  not  bear, 
break  forth  into  singing  and  cry  aloud  thou  that  didst  not 
travail  with  child,  for  more  are  the  children  of  the 
desolate  than  the  children  of  the  married  wife,  saith  the 
Lord."  Read  it  throughout.  All  the  circumstances  of  this 
chapter  show  that  it  refers  not  to  Gentile  nations  contrasted 
with  Israel,  but  to  Israel  tinder  the  old  covenant  and 


THE  REGENERATION.  135 

desolate, — in  contrast  with  Israel  under  the  new  covenant, 
when  Israel  will  be  greatly  blessed  and  fruitful.  The 
Apostle  Paul  (Gal.  4:25,  26)  quotes  the  passage  and  shows 
that  it  refers  riot  to  the  old  Jerusalem  and  the  covenant  of 
bondage,  but  to  the  new  Jerusalem  from  above,  and  the 
new  covenant  of  freedom.  And  when  the  light  of  that 
Jerusalem  shines  on  the  earth,  it  blesses  all  the  earth,  not 
only  Jews,  but  Gentiles;  for  it  is  the  mother  of  us  all;  and 
even  we  who  are  believers,  and  are  waiting  for  that  day,  have 
our  blessed  part  in  her.  (See  Meyer  on  Gal.  4:  25,  26,  27.) 
It  is  therefore  of  that  future  day,  of  the  u  Regeneration," 
to  which  the  prophet  refers.  Therefore,  in  order  that  Israel 
may  be  encouraged  to  return,  he  next  presents  God's  free- 
ness  of  salvation  and  certain  mercy  to  the  penitent  trans- 
gressor (Chap.  55.)  and  tells  Israel  at  the  same  time  (Chaps. 
56  to  58.)  of  his  sins  and  of  God's  righteousness  in  his 
depression. 

At  last  there  comes  the  sight  of  the  returning  Redeemer 
and  the  day  of  glory.  The  u  Redeemer  comes  to  Zion  to 
turn  away  ungodliness  from  Jacob."  (Chaps.  59:  16 — 21: 
60:  1 — 22:  61:  1 — 11.)  Let  us  observe  now  that  this  is  the 
passage  which  the  Apostle  Paul  declares  refers  to  the 

r  o  r 

national  Israel,  and  testifies  that  all  Israel,  (Israel  as  a 
whole)  is  then  to  be  saved.  That  redemption  then  is  yet 
future.  Paul's  words  are  (Rom.  11:  26.)  "Blindness  in 
part  is  happened  unto  Israel  until  the  fullness  of  the  Gen- 
tiles be  come  in.  And  so  all  Israel  shall  be  saved;  as  it  is 
written  there  shall  come  out  of  Zion  the  Deliverer  and  shall 
turn  away  ungodliness  from  Jacob;  for  this  is  my  covenant 
unto  them  (that  is  the  new  covenant,  see  Is.  59:  21  and 
Jer.  31:  31)  when  I  shall  take  away  their  sins." 

We  now  read  this  prophecy;  arid  let  us  observe  how  it 
places  together  in  the  day  of  Earth's  redemption  exactly 
what  the  apostle  Peter  puts  together,  and  declares  to  be  the 


136  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

burden  of  all  the  prophets   as   to  the   restitution  of  all 
things;  viz.: 

That  it  is  in  the  line  of  mercy,  in  which  all  the  Earth  shall 
participate  in  glory  and  blessedness  with  Israel,  as  is  shown 
fully  in  the  following  chapters: 

"  Surely  the  isles  shall  wait  for  me,  and  the  ships  of  Tarshish  first,  to 
bring  thy  sons  from  far,  their  silver  and  their  gold  with  them,  unto  the 
name  of  the  Lord  thy  God  and  to  the  Holy  One  of  Israel,  for  he  hath 
glorified  thee."  "  From  one  Sabbath  to  another  all  flesh  shall  come  and 
worship  before  me."  "I  will  make  an  everlasting  covenant  with  them, 
and  their  seed  shall  be  known  among  the  Gentiles  and  their  offspring 
among  the  people ;  and  all  that  see  them  shall  acknowledge  that  they 
are  the  Seed  which  the  Lord  hath  blessed."  (Chap.  60 :  9 ;  61 :  8,  9 ;  66 : 
23.  et  passim). 

Now  in  this,  the  time  of  mercy  to  Israel  and  all  the  Earth, 
we  have  in  this  prophecy,  59:  16-21,  first, 

The  Deliverer,  the  Lord,  arming  himself  and  coming 
forth  for  the  overthrow  of  all  the  ungodly  in  the  Earth. 

"  And  He  saw  that  there  was  no  man  and  wondered  that  there  was  no 
intercessor;  therefore  His  arm  brought  salvation  unto  him;  and  His 
righteousness,  it  sustained  him.  For  he  put  on  righteousness  as  a  breast- 
plate and  a  helmet  of  salvation  on  his  head ;  and  he  put  on  the  garments 
of  vengeance  for  clothing,  and  was  clad  with  zeal  as  a  cloak.  Accord- 
ing to  their  deeds,  accordingly  He  will  repay,  fury  to  his  adversaries, 
recompense  to  his  enemies ;  to  the  islands  (or  Gentiles)  he  will  repay 
recompense,  (v.  16-18). 

Then  we  have  the  day  of  general  holiness  before  the 
Lord  throughout  the  whole  world. 

"  So  shall  they  fear  the  name  of  the  Lord  from  the  west,  and  His  glory 
from  the  rising  of  the  sun.  When  the  Enemy  shall  come  in  like  a  flood, 
the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  shall  lift  up  a  standard  against  him."  (v.  19). 

Then,  the  coming  of  the  Lord  Christ  and  His  deliverance 
of  repentant  Israel. 

"  And  the  Redeemer  shall  come  to  Zion  and  unto  them  that  turn  from 
transgression  in  Jacob,  saith  the  Lord."  (v.  20). 

Then,  the  holy  consecration  of  Israel  to  God;  and  that, 
too,  through  perpetual  generations  on  the  Earth. 


THE  REGENERATION. 


"As  for  me,  this  is  rny  covenant  with  them,  saith  the  Lord;  my  Spirit 
that  is  upon  thee  and  my  words  which  I  have  put  in  thy  mouth  shall 
not  depart  out  of  thy  mouth,  nor  out  of  the  mouth  of  thy  seed,  nor  out 
of  the  mouth  of  thy  seed's  seed,  saith  the  Lord,  from  henceforth  and  for- 
ever." (v.  21). 

And,  so  also  in  the  following  chapter: 

"  Thy  people  shall  all  be  righteous  ;  they  shall  inherit  the  land  forever, 
tne  branch  of  my  planting,  the  work  of  my  hands,  that  I  may  be  - 
glorified."    (60:  21). 

And  finally,  the  attention  of  all  the  Gentile  world  to 
Israel's  risen  glory. 

"  Arise  !  shine  !  for  thy  light  is  come,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  is 
risen  upon  thee  ;  for  behold  the  darkness  shall  cover  the  earth  and  gross 
darkness  the  peoples  ;  but  the  Lord  shall  arise  upon  thee,  and  his  glory 
shall  be  seen  upon  thee,  and  the  Gentile  shall  come  to  thy  light  and 
kings  to  the  brightness  of  thy  rising."  "Thy  sun  shall  no  more  go 
down,  neither  shall  the  moon  withdraw  itself,  for  the  Lord  shall  be  thine 
everlasting  light  and  the  days  of  thy  mourning  shall  be  ended.  Thy 
people  also  shall  all  be  righteous,  they  shall  inherit  the  land  forever,  the 
branch  of  my  planting,  the  work  of  my  hands,  that  I  may  be  glorified." 

And  thus  on  to  the  end  of  chapter  sixty-first.  (60:  1-3; 
20,  21). 

Just  because  it  is  clear  therefore  that  Israel's  day  of  joy 
must  first  come  in  order  to  the  coming  of  the  day  of  joy  to- 
the  whole  Earth,  the  prophet  now  pleads  and  summons 
others  to  plead  for  the  coming  of  that  day  of  joy  to  Israel: 

"  For  Zion's  sake  I  will  not  hold  my  peace  and  for  Jesusalem's  sake  I 
will  not  rest  until  the  righteousness  thereof  go  forth  as  brightness,  and 
the  salvation  thereof  as  a  lamp  that  burneth.  And  the  Gentiles  shall 
see  thy  righteousness  and  all  kings  thy  glory,  and  thou  shalt  be  called 
by  a  new  name  which  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  shall  name.  (6.)  Ye  that 
are  tiie  Lord's  remembrancers,  keep  not  silence,  and  give  Him  no  rest 
until  He  establish,  and  till  He  make  Jerusalem  a  praise  in  the  Earth." 
(Chap.  62:  1-7). 

At  the  close  of  the  prophecy  we  find  portrayed  the 
Earth's  final  blessedness  and  permanent  state  —  the  new 
Heavens  and  new  Earth  wherein  dwelletli  righteousness. 
And  here  is  the  picture  plain  to  behold.  (Chap.  65  :  17-25). 


138  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

Here  is  all  the  Earth  restored  and  made  new  (v.  17) — 
Jerusalem  a  glory  in  the  new  Earth  (18, 19) — Israel  acknowl- 
edged bj  all  as  a  blessed  seed  (v.  23) — the  whole  world 
participating  in  the  glory  (v.  25) — Earth  brought  again 
to  Eden's  beauty  and  harmony  (v.  22,  23-25) — God  himself 
near  to  bless  (v.  2±).  And  all  this  when  the  Redeemer 
shall  have  come  to  Zion  to  turn  away  ungodliness  from  Jacob. 

(17.)  For,  behold,  I  create  new  heavens  and  a  new  earth ;  and  the  former 
shall  not  be  remembered,  nor  come  into  mind.  (18).  But  be  ye  glad  and 
rejoice  forever  in  that  which  I  create;  for,  behold,  I  create  Jerusalem  a 
rejoicing,  and  her  people  a  joy.  (19).  And  I  will  rejoice  in  Jerusalem, 
and  joy  in  My  people ;  and  the  voice  of  weeping  shall  no  more  be  heard 
in  her,  nor  the  voice  of  crying.  (20.)  There  shall  be  no  more  thence 
an  infant  of  days,  nor  an  old  man  that  hath  not  rilled  his  days;  for  the 
child  shall  die  an  hundred  years  old ;  but  the  sinner  being  a  hundred 
years  old  shall  be  accursed.  (21.)  And  they  shall  build  houses  and 
inhabit  them;  and  they  shall  plant  vineyards,  and  eat  the  fruit  of  them. 
{22.)  They  shall  not  build,  and  another  inhabit;  they  shall  not  plant, 
and  another  eat ;  for  as  the  days  of  a  tree  are  the  days  of  My  people,  and 
Mine  elect  shall  long  enjoy  the  work  of  their  hands.  (23.)  They  shall 
not  labor  in  vain,  nor  bring  forth  for  trouble;  for  they  are  the  seed  of 
the  blessed  of  the  Lord,  and  their  offspring  with  them.  (24.)  And  it 
shall  come  to  pass,  that  before  they  call  I  will  answer;  and  while  they 
are  speaking,  I  will  hear.  (25.)  The  wolf  and  the  lamb  shall  feed 
together,  and  the  lion  shall  eat  straw  like  the  bullock ;  and  dust  shall 
be  the  serpent's  meat.  They  shall  not  hurt  nor  destroy  in  all  My  holy 
mountain,  saith  the  Lord." 

And  this  is  final  and  perpetual;  for  it  is  added: 

"  For  as  the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth  which  I  will  make,  shall 
remain  before  Me,  saith  the  Lord,  so  shall  your  seed  and  your  name 
remain.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  from  one  new  moon  to  another, 
and  from  one  Sabbath  to  another,  shall  all  flesh  come  to  worship  before 
Me,  saith  the  Lord."  (66 : 22-23.) 

Thus  we  see  how  clearly  this  long  and  brilliant  prophecy 
presenting  the  salient  features  of  the  whole  of  earth's 
future,  sets  forth  on  its  very  surface  the  same  features  of 
the  Regeneration,  and  in  the  same  connection,  which  have 
already  been  indicated. 


TIIE  HEGENERATION.  139 

How  exactly  all  this  tallies  with  another  picture  which 
Isaiah  also  draws  of  the  same  coming  day  of  glory !  "We 
have  it  in  the  eleventh  chapter.  Here  are  grouped  together 
the  following.  The  King  Messiah  and  His  character: 

"  And  there  shall  come  forth  a  rod  out  of  the  stem  of  Jesse,  and  a  branch 
shall  grow  out  of  his  roots.  And  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  shall  rest  upon 
him,  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and  understanding,  the  spirit  of  counsel  and 
might,  the  spirit  of  knowledge  and  of  the  fear  of  the  Lord ;  and  shall 
make  him  of  quick  understanding  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord."  (vv.  1-3.) 

The  Gentiles  all  acknowledging  Him  throughout  the 
earth: 

"  And  in  that  day  shall  the  root  of  Jesse  stand  for  an  ensign  of  the 
peoples;  to  it  shall  the  Gentiles  seek;  and  his  rest  (or  residence)  shall 
be  glorious."  (v.  10.) 

His  miraculous  interposition  to  bring  back  dispersed 
Israel  to  their  own  land  at  that  time,  as  was  donein  former 
days  from  Egypt: 

"  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that  the  Lord  shall  set  His 
hand  again  the  second  time  to  recover  the  remnant  of  His  people,  which 
shall  be  left,  from  Assyria  and  from  Egypt,  and  from  Pathros  and  from 
Gush,  and  from  Elam,  and  from  Shinar,  and  from  Hamath,  and  from 
the  islands  of  the  sea.  And  He  shall  set  up  an  ensign  for  the  nations, 
and  shall  assemble  the  outcasts  of  Israel,  and  shall  gather  together  the 
dispersed  of  Judah  from  the  four  corners  of  the  earth.  And  the  Lord 
shall  utterly  destroy  the  tongue  of  the  Egyptian  sea;  and  with  His 
mighty  wind  shall  shake  His  hand  over  the  river,  and  shall  smite  it  in 
the  seven  streams,  and  make  men  go  over  dryshod.  And  there  shall  be 
a  highway  for  the  remnant  of  His  people,  which  shall  be  left,  from 
Assyria,  like  as  it  was  to  Israel  in  the  day  that  he  came  up  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt."  (vv.  11,  12,  15,  16.) 

The  King,  striking  down  His  opposing  enemies,  and 
especially  slaying,  by  His  own  presence  and  power,  the 
lawless  and  wicked  one;  as  the  Apostle  Paul  predicts  of 
Christ,  at  His  glorious  appearing,  slaying  the  Man  of  Sin. 
(in  2  Thess.,  ch.  2:8.) 

"  He  shall  smite  the  earth  with  the  rod  of  His  mouth,  and  with  the 
breath  of  His  lips  shall  He  slay  the  wicked  one."  (v.  4.) 

The  righteousness  of  the  King's  reign  over  all  the  earth: 


140  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST 

"  He  shall  not  judge  after  the  sight  of  His  eyes,  nor  reprove  after  the 
hearing  of  His  ears;  but  with  righteousness  shall  He  judge  the  poor, 
and  reprove  with  equity,  for  the  ineek  of  the  earth.  Righteousness  shall 
be  the  girdle  of  His  loins,  and  faithfulness  the  girdle  of  His  reins. 
(w.  3,  4.) 

And  the  Millennial  peace  and  holiness,  and  Eden  blessed- 
ness of  all  the  earth  and  its  inhabitants: 

"  The  wolf  also  shall  dwell  with  the  lamb,  and  the  leopard  shall  lie 
down  with  the  kid,  and  the  calf  and  the  young  lion  and  the  fatling 
together,  and  a  little  child  shall  lead  them.  And  the  cow  and  the  bear 
shall  feed;  their  young  ones  shall  lie  down  together;  and  the  lion  shall 
eat  straw  like  an  ox;  and  the  sucking  child  shall  play  on  the  hole  of  the 
asp,  and  the  weaned  child  shall  put  his  hand  on  the  cockatrice's  den. 
They  shall  not  hurt  nor  destroy  in  all  My  holy  mountain ;  for  the  earth 
shall  be  full  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord,  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea. 
(w.  6,  9.) 

Is  it  not  plain  from  all  this  that  Isaiah's  prophecies 
exactly  set  forth  just  the  very  features  in  "  the  Restitution 
of  all  things,"  which  the  Apostle  Peter  declares  all  the 
prophets  have  spoken  concerning  it? 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  other  prophets,  and  take  their 
testimony.  We  have  a  series  of  pictures,  and  in  them  all 
the  apostle's  declaration  respecting  "  the  Regeneration  "  is 
confirmed  throughout.  It  is  the  same  scene,  with  the  same 
actors  and  events  constantly  passing  before  us;  God's  uni- 
form testimony  as  to  the  coming  day  of  glory. 

Here  is  a  picture  to  show  that  it  is  in  the  King 
Messiah's  days  that  Israel  and  Judah  are  to  be  thus  blessed; 
no  longer  cast  out,  but  restored: 

"  Behold,  the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord,  that  I  will  perform  that  good 
thing  which  I  have  promised  unto  the  house  of  Israel  and  the  house  of 
Judah.  In  those  days,  and  at  that  time,  will  I  cause  the  branch  of 
righteousness  to  grow  up  unto  David;  and  He  shall  execute  judgment 
and  righteousness  in  the  land  (or  earth).  In  those  days  shall  Judah  be 
saved,  and  Jerusalem  shall  dwell  safely;  and  this  is  the  name  where- 
by it  shall  be  called  to  her:  The  Lord  our  Righteousness."  (Jer.  33: 
14-16.) 


THE  REGENERATION. 


Here  is  another  plain  picture.  You  see  in  it  the  Messiah, 
Jesus,  reigning  over  all  the  earth,  (v.  5.)  At  the  same 
time,  Israel  is  gathered  again  from  all  their  wanderings 
and  settled  upon  their  own  land  (vv.  3,  4,  6,)  —  and  the 
blessedness  so  great  that  all  former  deliverances  are  for- 
gotten. 

(V.  3.)  "I  will  gather  the  remnants  of  iny  flock  out  of  all  countries 
whither  I  have  driven  them,  and  will  bring  them  again  to  their  folds  ; 
and  they  shall  be  faithful  and  increase,  (v.  4.)  And  I  will  set  up  shep- 
herds over  them,  which  shall  feed  them  ;  and  they  shall  fear  no  more, 
nor  be  dismayed  ;  neither  shall  they  be  lacking,  saith  the  Lord.  (v.  5.) 
Behold,  the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord,  that  I  will  raise  unto  David  a 
righteous  Branch,  and  a  King  shall  reign  and  prosper,  and  shall  execute 
judgment  and  justice  in  the  earth,  (v.  6.)  In  His  days  Judah  shall  be 
saved,  and  Israel  shall  dwell  safely;  and  this  is  the  name  whereby  He 
shall  be  called:  THE  LORD  OUR  RIGHTEOUSNESS,  (v.  7.)  Therefore, 
behold,  the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord,  that  they  shall  no  more  say  :  The 
Lord  liveth,  which  brought  up  the  children  of  Israel  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt;  (v.  8)  but,  the  Lord  liveth,  which  brought  up  and  which  led 
the  seed  of  the  house  of  Israel  out  of  the  north  country,  and  from  all 
countries  whither  I  had  driven  them,  and  they  shall  dwell  in  their  own 
land."  (Jer.  23:3-8.) 

Here  is  a  promise  to  show  that  this,  being  so  necessary  a 
part  of  God's  future  plans  for  the  earth,  no  sin  or  defection 
in  Israel  will  ever  involve  any  irrecoverable  or  final  rejec- 
tion of  the  nation: 

"  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  which  giveth  the  sun  for  a  light  by  day,  and 
the  ordinances  of  the  moon  and  of  the  stars  for  a  light  by  night,  which 
divideth  the  sea  when  the  waves  thereof  roar  ;  the  Lord  of  Hosts  is  His 
name.  If  those  ordinances  depart  from  before  Me,  saith  the  Lord,  then 
the  seed  of  Israel  also  shall  cease  from  being  a  nation  before  Me  for- 
ever. Thus  saith  the  Lord  :  if  heaven  above  can  be  measured,  and  the 
•foundations  of  the  earth  searched  out  beneath,  I  will  also  cast  off  all  the 
seed  of  Israel  for  all  that  they  have  done,  saith  the  Lord."  (Jer.  21  : 
35-38.) 

Here,  also,  is  a  picture  to  show,  for  the  same  reason,  that 
the  new  covenant  itself  makes  it  sure  that  Israel  must  be 
thus  gathered  and  made  a  blessing  : 


SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST, 


"  Behold,  the  clays  coine,  saith  the  Lord,  that  I  will  sow  the  house  of 
Israel  and  the  house  of  Judah  with  the  seed  of  man  and  the  seed  of 
beast;  and  it  shall  coine  to  pass,  that  like  as  I  have  watched  over  them, 
to  pluck  up  and  to  break  down,  arid  to  throw  down,  and  to  destroy,  and 
to  afflict,  so  will  I  watch  over  them,  to  build,  and  to  plant,  saith  the 
Lord.  Behold,  the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord,  that  I  will  make  a  new 
covenant  with  the  house  of  Israel  and  the  house  of  Judah,  not  accord- 
ing to  the  covenant  that  I  made  with  their  fathers  in  the  day  that  I  took 
them  by  the  hand  to  bring  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  (which  My 
covenant  they  break,  although  I  was  an  husband  unto  them,  saith  the 
Lord);  but  this  shall  be  the  covenant  that  I  will  make  with  the  house  of 
Israel.  After  those  days,  saith  the  Lord,  I  will  put  My  law  in  their 
inward  parts,  and  write  it  in  their  hearts;  and  will  be  their  God,  and 
they  shall  be  My  people.  And  they  shall  teach  no  more  every  man  his 
neighbor,  and  every  man  his  brother,  saying  :  Know  the  Lord,  for  they 
shall  all  know  Me,  from  the  least  of  them  unto  the  greatest  of  them,  saith 
the  Lord  ;  for  I  will  forgive  their  iniquity,  and  I  will  remember  their 
sin  no  more."  (Jer.  31  :  27-34.) 

Let  it  be  remembered,  that  it  is  according  to  this  very 
same  new  covenant,  as  the  writer  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  tells  us,  not  only  Israel,  in  his  day  of  return,  but 
all  of  us,  have  forgiveness  and  salvation  —  the  new  covenant 
in  Christ.  Could  words  declare  more  plainly  that,  under 
this  new  covenant,  the  nation,  as  a  nation,  is  to  be  delivered 
from  its  iniquities;  and  that  national  mercies,  with  all 
other  blessings  to  the  world  at  large,  before  alluded  to,  are 
to  follow  ?  How  plain  Peter's  words,  therefore,  would 
sound  in  Jewish  ears: 

"  Repent  ye,  therefore,  and  be  converted,  that  your  sins  (as  a  nation) 
may  be  blotted  out,  and  the  times  of  refreshing  and  of  the  restoring 
of  all  things,  spoken  of  by  all  the  prophets,  may  come." 

Here,  again,  is  a  picture  from  Ezekiel  of  the  gathering  of 
Israel  and  their  sanctiftcation,  and  the  return  of  Eden's' 
beauty  to  the  earth  in  that  day: 

"I  will  take  you  from  among  the  Gentiles,  and  gather  you  out  of  all 
countries,  and  will  bring  you  into  your  own  land.  Then  I  will  sprinkle 
clean  water  upon  you,  and  ye  shall  be  clean  from  all  your  filthioess, 
and  from  all  your  idols  will  I  cleanse  you.  A  new  heart  also  will  I 


THE  REGENERATION.  143 

give  you,  and  a  new  spirit  will  I  put  within  you;  and  I  will  take  away 
the  stony  heart  out  of  your  flesh,  and  I  will  give  you  a  heart  of  flesh. 
And  I  will  put  My  Spirit  within  you,  and  cause  you  to  walk  in  My 
statutes,  and  ye  shall  keep  My  judgments  and  do  them.  And  ye  shall 
dwell  in  the  land  that  I  gave  to  your  fathers,  and  ye  shall  be  My  peo- 
ple, and  I  will  be  your  God.  I  will  also  save  you  from  all  your  unclean- 
ness;  and  I  will  call  for  the  corn,  and  will  increase  it,  and  lay  no  famine 
upon  you.  And  I  will  multiply  the  fruit  of  the  tree,  and  the  increase 
of  the  field ;  and  ye  shall  receive  no  more  reproach  among  the  Gentiles. 
And  the  desolate  land  shall  be  filled,  whereas  it  lay  desolate  in  the  sight . 
of  all  that  passed  by;  and  they  shall  say:  This  land  that  was  desolate 
is  become  like  the  garden  of  Eden ;  and  the  waste  and  desolate  and 
ruined  cities  are  become  fenced  and  are  inhabited.  Then  the  nations 
that  are  left  round  about  you  shall  know  that  I  the  Lord  build  the 
ruined  places,  and  plant  that  which  was  desolate;  I  the  Lord  have 
spoken  it,  and  I  will  do  it."  (Ezek.  36 : 21-36.) 

And  all  this  He  declares  in  the  next  chapter  is  to  last 
"  forever,"  and  "  forevermore."  (37: 25-28.) 

Look,  now,  at  this  picture  from  the  Prophet  Micah.  See 
how  plainly  He  groups  together  the  same  things,  viz. :  Zion's 
desolation  (ch.  3:  12).  Zion's  elevation  again  in  the  last 
days  after  her  desolation  (ch.  4:1).  All  the  nations  drawn 
to  Zion  as  the  centre  of  religious  blessings  in  the  earth 
(v,  2).  The  King,  the  Lord's  right  hand,  overthrowing  the 
opposing  nations  preparatory  to  His  personal  reign  on  earth 
(v.  3).  The  subsequent  peace  and  blessedness  of  all  the 
earth  (vv.  4,  5).  The  exaltation  of  outcast  Israel  (vv. 
6,  7).  Jehovah  Jesus  reigning  forever  in  Mount  Zion 
(v.  7).  And  Israel  acknowledged  as  chief  in  the  renewed 
earth : 

(v.  12.)  "  Therefore  shall  Zion  for  your  sake  be  ploughed  as  a  field, 
and  Jerusalem  shall  become  heaps,  and  the  mountain  of  the  house  as 
the  high  places  of  the  forest,  (ch.  4:1.)  But  in  the  last  days  it  shall 
come  to  pass,  that  the  mountain  of  the  house  of  the  Lord  shall  be  estab- 
lished in  the  top  of  the  mountains,  and  it  shall  be  exalted  above  the 
hills,  and  peoples  shall  flow  unto  it.  (v.  2.)  And  many  nations  shall 
come  and  say:  Come,  and  let  us  go  up  to  the  mountain  of  the  Lord, 
and  to  the  house  of  the  God  of  Jacob ;  and  He  will  teach  us  of  His  ways, 
and  we  will  walk  in  His  paths ;  for  the  law  shall  go  forth  of  Zion,  and 


144  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

the  word  of  the  Lord  from  Jerusalem,  (v.  3.)  And  He  shall  judge 
among  many  peoples,  and  rebuke  strong  nations  afar  off;  and  they  shall 
beat  their  swords  into  ploughshares,  and  their  spears  into  pruning  hooks; 
nation  shall  not  lift  up  sword  again  st  nation,  neither  shall  they  learn 
war  any  more.  (v.  4.)  But  they  shall  sit,  every  man  under  his  vine  and 
tinder  his  fig  tree,  and  none  shall  make  them  afraid ;  for  the  mouth  of 
the  Lord  hath  spoken  it.  (v.  5.)  For  all  peoples  will  walk  every  one  in 
the  name  of  his  God,  and  we  will  walk  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  our 
Ood  for  ever  and  ever.  (v.  6.)  In  that  day,  saith  the  Lord,  will  I 
assemble  her  that  halteth,  and  I  will  gather  her  that  is  driven  out  and 
her  that  I  have  afflicted,  (v.  7.)  And  I  will  make  her  that  halted  a 
remnant,  and  her  that  was  cast  off  a  strong  nation ;  and  the  Lord  shall 
reign  over  them  in  Mount  Zion  from  henceforth,  even  forever,  (v.  8.) 
And  thou,  O  tower  of  the  flock,  the  stronghold  of  the  daughter  of  Zion, 
unto  thee  shall  it  come,  even  the  first  dominion ;  the  kingdom  shall 
come  to  the  daughter  of  Jerusalem."  (Micah,  ch.  3 : 12 ;  4  :l-8.) 

And  behold  this  picture  from  Zephaniah.  See  how  grandly 
and  certainly  He  repeats  the  same  story.  Just  hear  it:  The 
Lord's  coming  anger  against  the  anti-Christian  nations,  in 
.the  same  day;  the  united  nations  of  all  the  earth  with  one 
consent  then  serving  God;  the  redemption  and  return  of 
outcast  Israel;  their  entire  renovation  in  heart  never  more 
to  backslide;  the  King  Christ  manifest  in  the  midst  of 
them;  and  evil  seen  never  again  forevermore: 

"  Therefore,  wait  ye  upon  Me,  saith  the  Lord,  until  the  day  that  I 
rise  up  to  the  prey;  for  My  determination  is  to  gather  the  nations,  that 
I  may  assemble  the  kingdoms  to  pour  out  upon  them  Mine  indigna- 
tion, even  all  My  fierce  anger;  for  all  the  earth  shall  be  drowned  with 
the  fire  of  My  jealousy.  For  then  will  I  turn  to  the  nations  a  pure  lan- 
guage that  they  may  all  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  to  serve  Him 
with  one  consent.  From  beyond  the  rivers  of  Ethiopia,  My  suppliants, 
«ven  the  daughter  of  My  dispersed,  shall  bring  My  offering.  In  that  day 
shalt  thou  not  be  ashamed  for  all  thy  doings,  wherein  thou  hast  trans- 
gressed against  Me;  for  then  I  will  take  away  out  of  the  midst  of  thee 
them  that  rejoice  in  thy  pride;  and  thou  shalt  no  more  be  haughty 
because  of  My  holy  mountain.  I  will  also  leave  in  the  midst  of  thee  a 
humbled  and  poor  people,  and  they  shall  trust  in  the  name  of  the  Lord. 
The  remnant  of  Israel  shall  not  do  iniquity,  nor  speak  lies;  neither 
shall  a  deceitful  tongue  be  found  in  their  mouth;  for  they  shall  feed 
and  lie  down,  and  none  shall  make  them  afraid.  Sing,  O  daughter  of 


THE  REGENERATION.  145 

Zion,  shout,  O  Israel ;  be  glad  and  rejoice  with  all  the  heart,  O  daugh- 
ter of  Jerusalem!  The  Lord  hath  taken  away  thy  judgments,  He  hath 
cast  out  thine  enemy;  the  King  of  Israel  is  in  the  midst  of  thee;  thou 
shalt  not  see  evil  any  more.  In  that  day  it  shall  be  said  to  Jerusalem : 
Fear  thou  not;  and  to  Zion:  Let  not  thine  hands  be  slack;  the  Lord  thy 
God  in  the  midst  of  thee  is  mighty;  He  will  save;  He  will  rejoice  over 
thee  with  joy;  He  will  rest  in  His  love;  He  will  joy  over  thee  with 
singing.  I  will  gather  them  that  are  sorrowful  for  the  solemn  assem- 
bly, who  are  of  thee,  to  whom  the  reproach  of  it  was  a  burden.  Behold, 
at  that  time  I  will  undo  all  that  afflict  thee;  and  I  will  save  her  that 
halteth,  and  gather  her  that  was  driven  out ;  and  I  will  get  them  praise 
and  fame  in  every  land  where  they  have  been  put  to  shame.  At  that 
time  will  I  bring  you  again,  even  in  the  time  that  I  gather  you;  for  I 
will  make  you  a  name  and  a  praise  among  all  the  peoples  of  the  earth, 
when  I  turn  back  your  captivity  before  your  eyes,  saith  the  Lord." 
(Zeph.  3 : 8-21.) 

To  close  this  testimony,  hear  the  Prophet  Zechariah. 
The  gathered  nations  assembled  against  Israel  in  that 
coming  day;  and  their  doom: 

"And  in  that  day  will  I  make  Jerusalem  a  burdensome  stone  for  all 
nations;  all  that  burden  themselves  with  it  shall  be  cut  in  pieces, 
though  all  the  peoples  of  the  earth  be  gathered  together  against  it." 
(Zech.  12:3.) 

God's  deliverance  of  Israel;  Israel's  repentance  for  slay- 
ing their  Messiah  who  was  pierced;  and  the  fountain 
opened  for  cleansing  in  that  day. 

"  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day  that  I  will  seek  to  destroy  all 
nations  that  come  against  Jerusalem.  And  I  will  pour  upon  the  house 
of  David,  and  upon  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  the  spirit  of  grace  and 
of  supplications;  and  they  shall  look  upon  me  whom  they  have  pierced, 
and  they  shall  mourn  for  Him  as  one  mourneth  for  his  only  son,  and 
shall  be  in  bitterness  for  Him  as  one  is  in  bitterness  for  his  firstborn. 
In  that  day  shall  there  be  a  great  mourning  in  Jerusalem,  as  the  mourn- 
ing of  Hadadriinmon  in  the  Valley  of  Megiddon.  And  the  land  shall 
mourn,  every  fam  ily  apart ;  the  family  of  the  house  of  David  apart  and 
their  wives  apart;  the  family  of  the  house  of  Nathan  apart  and  their 
wives  apart ;  the  family  of  the  house  of  Levi  apart  and  their  wives 
apart;  the  family  of  Shimei  apart  and  their  wives  apart;  all  the  families 
that  remain,  every  family  apart  and  their  wives  apart.  In  that  day  there 
shall  be  a  fountain  opened  to  the  house  of  David  and  to  the  inhabitants 
of  Jerusalem  for  sin  and  for  uncleanness."  (12:  9-14;  13: 1.) 
10 


146  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

Their  trials  and  their  redemption  at  that  time. 
•*  And  I  will  bring  the  third  part  through  the  fire  and  will  refine  them 
as  silver  is  refined,  and  will  try  them  as  gold  is  tried ;  they  shall  call  on 
My  name  and  I  will  hear  them.    I  will  say,  It  is  My  people;  and  they 
shall  say  the  Lord  is  my  God."  (v.  9.) 

Then  the  Messiah's  appearance  for  their  deliverance,  and 
His  overthrow  of  the  opposing  nations  in  the  hour  of 
Israel's  trouble. 

"  Behold  the  day  of  the  Lord  cometh,  and  the  spoil  shall  be  divided  in  the 
midst  of  thee.  For  I  will  gather  all  nations  against  Jerusalem  to  battle; 
and  the  city  shall  be  taken  and  the  houses  rifled  and  the  women  ravished, 
and  half  of  the  city  shall  go  forth  into  captivity,  and  the  residue  of  the 
people  shall  not  be  cut  ofl'  from  the  city.  Then  shall  the  Lord  go  forth 
and  fisrht  against  those  nations,  as  when  He  fought  in  the  day  of  battle. 
And  His  feet  shall  stand  in  that  day  upon  the  mount  of  Olives,  which 
is  before  Jerusalem  on  the  East,  and  the  mount  of  Olives  shall  cleave  in 
the  midst  thereof  toward  the  East  and  toward  the  West,  and  there  shall 
be  a  very  great  valley ;  and  half  of  the  mountain  shall  remove  toward 
the  North  and  half  of  it  toward  the  South."  (14 : 1-  4.) 

The  risen  saints  come  with  Christ  to  share  in  executing 
these  judgments. 

"  And  the  Lord  my  God  shall  come  and  all  the  saints  with  Thee." 
(v.  4.) 

Jehovah  Jesus  as  King  in  all  the  earth;  those  of  the 
nations,  who  are  saved  out  of  the  judgments,  made  a  holy  and 
"blessed  population  of  the  earth;  and  earth's  blessedness  and 
abiding  peace. 

"  And  the  Lord  shall  be  King  over  all  the  earth ;  in  that  day  shall 
there  be  one  Lord,  and  His  name  one.  All  the  land  shall  be  burned  as 
a  plain  from  Geba  to  Rimmon,  South  of  Jerusalem  .  .  .  and  men 
shall  dwell  in  it,  and  there  shall  be  no  more  utter  destruction;  but 
Jerusalem  shall  be  safely  inhabited  ....  And  it  shall  come  to 
pass  that  every  one  that  is  left  of  all  the  nations  which  came  against 
Jerusalem  shall  even  go  up  from  year  to  year  to  worship  the  King  and 
the  Lord  of  Hosts  (Compare  Rev.  21 :  24.)  and  to  keep  the  feast  of  taber- 
nacles, and  it  shall  be  that  whoso  will  not  come  up  of  all  the  families  of 
the  East  unto  Jerusalem  to  worship  the  King  and  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  even 
upon  them  sliall  be  no  rain  ...  In  that  day  shall  there  be  upon  the  bells 
of  the  horses,  HOLINESS  UNTO  THE  LORD  ;  and  the  pots  in  the  Lord's  house 


THE  REGENERATION. 


shall  be  like  the  bowls  before  the  altars;  yea,  every  pot  in  Jerusalem 
and  in  Judah  shall  be  holiness  unto  the  Lord  of  Hosts  ;  and  all  they 
that  sacrifice  shall  come  and  take  of  them  and  seethe  therein,  and  in 
that  day  there  shall  be  no  more  the  Canaanite  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  of 
Hosts."  (14:9-21.) 

Now,  I  add  to  all  this  testimony  the  clear  declarations  of 
the  prophet  Daniel,  on  this  subject,  so  familiar  to  all,  and 
so  clear  and  full  in  his  presentation  of  the  very  same  par- 
ticulars. The  bringing,  near  the  Son  of  Man  to  the  Ancient 
of  Days  to  receive  the  Kingdom;  that  Kingdom  to  come 
at  the  overthrow  of  the  present  world  kingdoms,  the  thrones 
set  for  His  saints  to  exercise  dominion  with  Him;  the  time 
come  for  the  deliverance  af  Daniel's  people,  Israel;  the 
kingdom  under  the  whole  heaven  given  to  the  people  of 
the  saints  of  the  Most  High;  the  rule  of  the  Messiah  and 
His  holy  ones  over  all  the  earth,  and  that  Kingdom  abiding 
on  the  earth  "forever,  even  for  ever  and  ever."  (Daniel 
2:31-46;and7:9-2T.) 

We  have  seen,  now,  how  manifestly  all  the  prophets  of  the 
Old  Testament  speak  one  and  the  same  language  on  this 
subject.  One  song  with  varying  strings  of  the  harp,  but 
with  a  never-ceasing  harmony,  is  sung  by  all  of  them  —  the 
same  utterance,  as  the  apostle  Peter  declares,  by  "  all  God's 
holy  prophets  since  the  world  began."  (Acts  3:  21.) 

Reading,  now,  on  the  very  surface  of  these  Old  Testament 
Scriptures,  what  all  the  prophets  have  uttered  in  reference 
to  "  the  Regeneration,"  we  see  that  they  are  in  entire  accord 
in  the  following  particulars,  viz.  :  A  renewed  Heavens  and 
Earth  made  like  the  garden  of  the  Lord;  the  presence  of 
the  King,  reigning  in  glory  and  the  seat  of  His  dominion 
over  all  the  Earth  in  Zion;  His  risen  people  seated  on 
the  thrones  of  judgment  with  Him;  "an  honor  given  to 
all  His  Saints;"  nations  living  on  the  Earth,  spared  from 
the  desolating  judgments  of  God,  and  then  blest  and  made 
the  subjects  of  the  Lord's  rule.  All  these  made  holy  ;  all 


0?  T 

fUHIVSESI 


148  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

taught  of  God  from  the  least  to  the  greatest;  Christ's 
redemption  applied  to  all  on  the  Earth;  the  former  things, 
in  the  presence  of  this  great  glory,  passed  out  of  mind; 
Israel  redeemed  as  a  Nation  and  gathered  into  his  own 
land,  and  known  of  all  the  Earth  as  the  seed  whom  the 
Lord  has  blessed;  the  reproach,  the  curse,  all  gone;  and 
God  dwelling,  indeed,  in  the  midst  of  mankind  as  His  own 
people.  And  this  blessedness  of  the  Earth  to  last  from 
generation  to  generation,  forever. 

Let  us  pause  now  at  this  stage.  Here  are  the  events 
respecting  the  coming  day  of  glory  revealed  to  the  Old 
Testament  church;  and  the  faith  of  God's  people  in  the 
Old  Testament  times  so  received  them,  and  looked  forward 
to  just  such  a  fulfillment  of  them.  There  were,  of  course, 
then,  as  there  are  now,  many  partly  revealed  particulars  as 
to  time  and  circumstances  which  lay  yet  in  the  dark.  As  to 
these  the  prophets  themselves  searched,  to  know  what  time 
and  what  events  the  Spirit  of  Christ  in  them  did  signify,  when 
He  spoke  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ  and  the  glory  to  follow. 
But  plainly  these  did  not  affect  the  great  outline  of  pro- 
phecy which  set  before  the  faith  of  the  church  certain 
distinct  and  comprehensible  events.  And,  as  such,  the 
church  of  that  day  received  them.  Now,  I  will  ask,  Is  it 
conceivable  that,  by  some  subsequent  revelation,  all  this 
could  have  been  declared  to  be  a  grand  mistake — a  delusion 
practised  upon  the  church  for  a,  time,  when  in  its  nonage? 
and  that  no  such  expectations  by  Israel  were  ever  to  be 
realized,  on  earth,  as  the  Scripture  statements  had  led  them 
to  believe?  Is  it  conceivable  that  the  whole  hope  of  the 
church  was  to  be  entirely  changed,  not  simply  as  to  degree, 
but  in  kind;  and  that,  under  the  plea,  of  greater  spirituality, 
all  this  grand  and  inspiring  vision  of  the  future  which  all 
the  prophets  had,  from  the  beginning,  been  portraying,  in 
order  to  animate  and  stimulate  God's  sons  and  daughters, 


.  THE  REGENERATION.  149 

should  vanish  away,  "  like  the  baseless  fabric  of  a  dream," 
into  some  illusive,  ideal,  and  incomprehensible  glory,  to  be 
unveiled  in  another  sphere?  Such  a  change  seems  impos- 
sible. The  church  of  God  in  every  age  is  one;  and  her  hope 
so  far  as  it  is  revealed,  in  every  age  is  the  same.  Why  should 
the  church,  in  our  age,  be  deluded  by  certain  expectations 
which  turn  out  at  last  to  be  only  parables  foreshadowing  some- 
thing else  utterly  different  and  utterly  indistinct  and  unfixed? 
What  shows  a  change,  so  radical,  to  be  the  more  unwar- 
ranted, is  the  plea  upon  which  it  is  based.  Is  the  plea,  that 
there  are  plain  statements,  during  the  later  dispensation, 
of  such  a  change  being  necessary?  Not  at  all.  If  there 
were  such,  some  good  ground  would,  indeed,  be  given  for 
insisting  on  a  new  view  of  the  whole  matter.  But  not  one 
word  of  New  Testament  Scripture  calls  for  such  a  trans- 
formation of  Old  Testament  prophecy.  What,  then,  is  the 
plea?  Simply  this,  Gentiles  have  become  believers.  As 
believers  they  are  the  spiritual  seed  of  Abraham  just  as 
truly  as  are  believing  Jews.  As  believers,  Gentiles  are 
fellow  heirs  and  of  the  same  household  of  God.  All  which 
is  true.  But  from  this  premiss  it  is  concluded  that  this 
fact  annuls  all  the  distinctive  promises  made  to  the  literal 
Israel,  and  hence  wherever  Israel's  name  comes  in  for  a 
prophecy  of  blessing,  Israel  is  no  longer  to  be  understood 
as  Israel,  but  the  spiritual  church  at  large,  made  up  of  Jews 
and  Gentiles.  And  thus  all  the  Old  Testament  language 
on  this  subject  of  Israel's  future  in  the  Earth,  and  indeed 
of  the  day  of  glory  itself,  is  sublimated  away  to  suit  the 
fancy  and  preconception  of  the  interpreter.  What  could 
not  be  proved  by  such  a  process  ?  a  process  never  resorted 
to  in  the  interpretation  of  any  other  part  of  Scripture; 
never  at  all  in  the  interpretation  of  any  other  writings;  and 
for  the  plain  reason  that  the  laws  of  language  forbid  a 
method  of  interpretation  so  arbitrary  and  unjustified. 


150  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

Besides,  how  can  such  an  application  of  these  passages 
to  the  church  at  large  be  made  without  confounding  all 
language,  when  in  one  line  the  Israel  who  is  said  to  be 
brought  back,  redeemed,  renewed,  and  is  presented  as  dwell- 
ing from  generation  to  generation  in  his  own  land,  is  in  the 
line  preceding  spoken  of  as  the  very  Israel  who  was  cast 
out,  depressed,  blinded,  and  persecuted,  by  the  Gentile 
nations?  Further,  how  can  this  interpretation  be  justly 
allowed,  when,  on  the  contrary,  all  the  sufferings  of  the 
Messiah  are  interpreted  as  having  been  prophesied  literally; 
and  why  not  the  glory  which  is  predicted?  In  the  very 
speech  of  the  Apostle  Peter,  we  have  quoted,  there  is 
another  thing  besides  the  restitution  of  all  things,  of  which 
he  declares  all  the  prophets  have  spoken.  And  what  is 
that?  It  is  the  sufferings  of  Christ.  "  But  those  things 
which  God  hath  spoken  beforehand  by  the  mouth  of  all  His 
holy  2?rophets*  that  Christ  should  suffer,  He  hath  so  ful- 
filled "  All  agree  that  this  record  of  all  the  prophets  is  to 
be  taken  in  its  plain  literal  meaning;  why  not  the  other? 
And  still  further.  How  is  it  possible  thus  to  transfer 
Israel's  place  to  the  Gentile  church  and  thus  involve  every- 
thing in  confusion,  when  the  inspired  apostle  quotes  one  of 
these  very  declarations  (Is.  59:  60)  which  presents  the  whole 
together  and  declares  to  us  that  this  Israel,  so  redeemed, 
and  so  made  a  blessing  and  a  glory  in  the  whole  earth, 
means  the  natural  Israel,  and  is  to  be  clearly  distinguished 
from  the  believing  Gentile  church.  (Rom.  chap.  11.) 

But  still  it  is  claimed  that  the  language  of  prophecy  is 
poetical  language;  is  full,  therefore,  of  tropes  and  figures, 
and  that,  interpreted  as  figurative  language  must  be,  the 
plain  or  literal  meaning  we  have  educed  from  it,  as 
read  on  the  very  surface,  is  necessarily  excluded.  But  this 
is  a  great  mistake.  For  this  concurrent  plain  meaning  of 
the  prophecies  is  not  at  all  excluded  by  our  accepting  the 


THE  REGENERATION. 


really  figurative  language  of  Scripture  as  figurative.  There 
is  no  objection  to  our  doing  this.  The  History  of  the 
Bible  is  often  expressed  in  language  carrying  figures. 
What  we  object  to  is,  first  insisting  that  language  is  figura- 
tive, where  there  are  no  figures;  and  secondly,  the  inter- 
preting of  language,  which  is  plainly  figurative,  entirely 
aside  from  the  known  laws  of  such  a  figurative  language,  and 
in  a  way  adopted  for  the  interpretation  of  no  other  poetry  or 
figurative  language  whatever.  The  claim  that  the  language 
should  be  grammatically,  or  as  some  call  it,  literally,  inter- 
preted, is  not  by  any  means  a  claim  that  all  figures  should 
be  excluded.  It  is  only  this,  that  figures  should  be  inter- 
preted as  such  figures  are  always  elsewhere  interpreted;  and 
this  being  done,  that  the  meaning,  thus  educed,  shall  be 
accepted  as  the  true  meaning  of  the  passage.  The  language 
of  prophetic  symbols  of  course  stands  by  itself.  I  am 
speaking  of  the  ordinary  language  of  prophecy.  By  this 
simple  rule,  which  is  applied  to  all  the  rest  of  the  Bible, 
the  meaning  is  plain.  It  lies  on  the  surface  and  it  gives 
one  concurrent  voice  in  the  Old  Testament  and  in  the  New, 
for  this  blessed  hope,  the  coming  of  the  King  and  the  Regen- 
eration of  all  things. 

We  hold,  then,  that  the  true  principles  of  exegesis  will 
lead  us  to  adopt  this  natural  meaning  of  the  prophets  as 
the  true  meaning.  And  this  being  the  case,  we  see  what 
the  nature  of  that  future  holy  condition  of  the  earth, 
revealed  to  the  fathers  by  all  the  prophets,  was  understood 
to  be.  And  if  this  was  their  expectation,  it  is  incredible 
that  this  was  to  be  suddenly  exchanged  for  some  new  hope 
entirey  unheard  of  before. 

But  now,  before  opening  the  New  Testament,  we  pause 
to  say,  that  if  ever  such  a  change  in  the  church's  expecta- 
tion was  to  be  made,  now  was  the  time,  at  the  first  advent 
of  the  great  Teacher,  when  the  views  of  the  church  should 


152  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

have  been  rectified.  Is  it  not  to  be  taken  as  a  matter  of 
course,  if  there  had  been  in  the  Old  Testament  church,  in 
Christ's  time,  a  great  and  vital  misunderstanding  of  the 
prophecies  concerning  the  Regeneration;  the  Kingdom  in 
its  future  glory,  Israel's  position  in  it,  etc.,  that  He,  com- 
ing as  the  great  Teacher,  and  correcting  and  enlightening 
at  every  point  on  other  topics,  would  surely  have  disabused 
the  minds  of  His  disciples  on  these  misunderstood  points? 
Would  not  His  Apostles  afterwards  also  have  done  so?  He 
did  nothing  of  the  sort.  They  did  nothing  of  the  sort. 
For  ought  He  or  they  have  said,  the  picture  of  the 
Regeneration  lying  on  the  surface  of  the  Prophetical 
writings,  as  we  have  drawn  it  forth,  remains  just  as 
it  was  received.  I  am  not  now  speaking  of  the  mistaken 
notions  of  many  among  them,  as  to  the  way  of 
entering  the  Kingdom;  of  their  false  ideas  as  to  the  saving 
effect  of  mere  descent  from  Abraham;  their  ignorance 
that  the  Lord  must  first  rule  in  the  heart  before  a  man, 
Jew  or  Gentile,  can  inherit  the  Kingdom;  nor  of  their  mis- 
taken ideas  as  to  the  time  of  setting  up  the  Kingdom,  nor 
of  the  way  in  which  the  Gentiles  were  to  be  introduced 
into  it.  But  I  refer  to  their  views  of  the  distinctive 
features  of  that  ±ungdom  in  its  consummation,  as  thus 
portrayed  by  their  prophets;  its  introduction  by  the  Messiah 
in  person;  its  presence  on  this  earth  under  His  rule;  His 
glorified  saints  ruling  with  Him;  its  universality  and  per- 
fect blessedness;  Israel's  permanent  residence  under  it,  in 
their  own  land,  acknowledged  by  all  as  the  seed  whom  the 
Lord  has  blessed,  and  this  continuing  from  generation  to 
generation.  Nor  am  I.  speaking  of  the  views  which  the  car- 
nal and  wicked  among  the  church  of  that  time  may  have 
entertained;  nor  of  the  hope  such  may  have  cherished  to 
see  a  Kingdom  like  the  godless  Kingdoms  of  this  present 
evil  world.  When  I  speak  of  the  sublimity  of  the  Jewish 


THE  REGENERATION.  153 

clmrcli  I  refer  to  the  views  wrought  into  the  hearts  of  the 
pious  among  that  people  by  means  of  the  Scriptures;  of 
persons  like  Simeon  and  Anna  and  Nathaniel  and  others 
who  waited  for  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  looked,  therefore, 
for  Him  who  was  to  be  u  a  Light  to  lighten  the  Gentiles 
and  the  Glory  of  His  people  Israel.  It  is,  to  be  sure,  by 
no  means  uncommon,  to  speak  even  of  these  pious  souls  as  -* 
having  entirely  mistaken  their  own  prophets,  and  to  con- 
sider the  whole  church's  views  as  very  worldly  and  tem- 
poral and  unspiritual,  and  to  represent  these  Jewish  children 
of  faith  as  looking  forward,  in  their  weakness,  for  some 
prior  imitation  of  the  sinful  and  ambitious  Kingdoma 
of  this  present  evil  world,  simply  because  the  Kingdom  of 
glory  was  in  their  minds  associated  with  this  earth.  And 
it  is  not  uncommon  to  imagine  that  Christ's  words  were 
intended  to  rebuke  such  expectations  of  theirs.  But  where 
did  Christ  ever  really  thus  speak  of  them?  And  how  can 
His  words  be  so  interpreted,  except  by  an  exegesis  which 
simply  assumes  that  there  is  such  an  intention  in  them. 

We  call  attention  then  to  this  fact,  that,  with  these  views 
of  the  prophecies  before  the  ancient  church,  and  accepted 
by  that  church,  there  is  not  only,  in  all  Christ's  teaching, 
not  one  word  of  correction  as  to  this  impression,  but  there 
is  not  one  word  even  of  explanation  which  suggests  the 
possibility  that  He  knew  them  to  have  taken  a  wrong  view. 
There  is  a  mutual  understanding  on  these  points  between 
Him  and  His  hearers.  Any  man  would  naturally  suppose^ 
for  example,  whenever  Christ  alluded  to  the  coming  King- 
dom, as  He  often  did,  its  time,  nature,  or  concomitants, 
that  He,  if  knowing  they  had  received  false  impressions  of 
these  things  in  reading  their  prophets,  would  have  been 
compelled  to  explain  His  own  allusions,  and  set  forth  His 
differing  views,  and  put  right  their  notions  in  so  doing. 
He  does  nothing  of  the  kind.  What  are  we  to  infer,  but 
that  He  accepted  their  views  as,  in  the  great  outline,  true? 


154:  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

This  fact  is  strengthened  by  the  consideration  that  He 
•did  very  earnestly  controvert  and  correct  their  mistakes  as 
to  other  things  preparatory  to  the  glory.  For  example, 
they  metaphorized  away  the  plain  and  literal  statements 
as  to  the  sufferings  of  Christ.  He  takes  the  greatest  pains  all 
along  to  remove  this  error  and  to  show  them,  from  Moses 
and  all  the  prophets,  how  foolish  and  slow  of  heart  they 
were,  not '  to  believe  all  that  the  prophets  had  spoken  of 
•Christ's  suffering  first  before  He  entered  into  His  glory. 
Thus  we  see  He  corrected  them  on  this  point  upon  which 
(as  Peter  puts  it)  all  the  prophets  had  also  spoken;  and  if 
the  church  had  made  a  similar  mistake,  as  to  the  glory,  why 
was  He  silent  on  that  error? 

Notice  still  further.  That  in  His  correction  of  their 
views  of  the  prophets'  words  about  His  sufferings,  He  by  no 
means  convicts  them  on  the  ground  of  their  having  taken  too 
literal  and  natural  a  view  of  the  prophecies.  On  the  con- 
trary, they  had  erred  by  refining  away  the  slain  Lamb;  the 
pierced  Messiah;  the  Messiah  wounded  for  our  transgres- 
sions, yielding  His  soul  unto  death;  and  hence  had  failed  to 
perceive  all  the  prophets  had  spoken.  Nor  are  we  to 
imagine  that,  because  He  did  correct  their  views  of  the 
sufferings  and  not  their  views  as  to  the  glory,  the  disciples 
and  others  of  the  time  received  both  in  a  spiritual  or  unliteral 
sense,  and  that  Christ  corrected  the  one  unliteral  meaning 
(as  to  the.  sufferings),  but  left  the  other  stand,  because  in 
that  case  the  unliteral  meaning  was  the  true  one.  Such  a 
•conclusion  is  wrong.  For  it  is  notorious  that  the  Apostles 
took  the  plain,  literal  view  of  the  glory  at  the  rery  time 
they  took  the  unliteral  .one  as  to  the  suffering.  They  show 
it  in  all  their  questions;  even  their  very  last  one  betrays 
it,  when  they  inquired  whether  the  Kingdom  was,  at  that 
time,  to  be  given  to  Israel.  Nay,  the  fact  is  so  plain,  that  for 
this  very  reason  they  are  often  represented  as  carnal  and 


THE  REGENERATION.  155 

worldly  in  their  views  of  the  Kingdom,  as  we  have  already 
stated.  No.  Christ  corrected  their  unliteral  views  of  the 
sufferings,  and  not  only  allowed  their  literal  views  of  the 
Kingdom  and  glory  to  stand,  but  confirmed  their  literality 
in  many  ways. 

Still  further  is  it  to  be  noted  that  when  our  Lord  did 
make  any  corrections  in  reference  to  the  Kingdom  and 
glory,  it  was  not  in  regard  to  the  Regeneration  or  the 
Kingdom  itself,  but  to  certain  errors  in  connection  with 
it.  For  example:  As  to  the  time  of  it.  It  was  not,  as  they 
had  supposed,  immediately  to  appear,  but  only  after  the 
King  had  gone  away  and  returned.  Again,  it  was  not 
to  be  given  Him  without  the  cross,  but  in  consequence  of 
it,  and  after  which  He  would  draw  all  men  unto  Him. 
Again,  He  was  not  to  be  placed  on  the  throne  of  the  King- 
dom by  the  hands  of  ignorant  and  sottish  men  who,  in  their 
carnal  hearts,  looked  only  after  the  loaves  and  fishes;  nor 
by  the  will  of  the  Devil,  on  condition  that  Christ  would 
fall  down  and  worship  him;  but  only  by  His  Father's  hand, 
and  when  He  had  won  the  throne  by  the  cross,  and  when 
His  Father's  time  for  bestowing  it  had  arrived.  And 
again,  that  it  was  not  a  Kingdom  of  this  present  age, 
because  it  was  plainly  the  one  of  the  "  age  to  come." 

We  desire  that  this  fact  may  be  properly  weighed,  viz. :  that 
while  there  is,  throughout  our  Lord's  discourses,  the  freest 
reference  made  to  the  future  Kingdom  itself,  there  is  not  one 
word  of  correction,  nor  of  explanation  given.  The  record 
was  plain  in  all  the  prophets.  Why  should  they  not  receive 
what  the  prophets  said?  They  did  receive  it.  They  knew 
and  thought  but  little  of  the  sufferings;  they  were  scandal- 
ized by  the  contemplation  of  a  suifering  Messiah.  But  of 
the  glory  they  understood  much  and  well.  There  was  never 
any  controversy  between  Christ  and  the  men  of  His  time  on 
these  points.  Everything  is  taken  for  granted  on  both 


156  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

sides.  What,  now,  I  repeat,  is  the  natural  inference,  but 
that  this  view  is  sealed  with  our  Lord's  own  approval?  It 
is  the  New  Testament  voice  approving  these  plain  pictures 
of  the  prophets,  as  also  approving  the  simple-hearted  faith  01 
the  church  which  received  them  just  as  they  were  written, 
and  was  waiting  like  Simeon,  and  Anna,  and  Joseph  of 
Arimathea,  for  that  Kingdom  of  God. 

Let  us  open  now  the  New  Testament  and  we  shall  find 
how  true  is  all  this. 

Our  Lord,  for  example,  speaks  of  this  very  theme,  "  the 
Kegeneration,"  the  Palingenesia.  (Matt.  19:28.)  All  the 
prophets  had,  as  Peter  declares,  spoken  of  it.  And  the 
disciples  received  the  commonly  held  views  of  the  time 
respecting  it.  "  Yerily  I  say  unto  you  (says  Christ  to  His 
apostles)  in  the  Regeneration,  when  the  Son  of  Man  shall 
sit  upon  the  throne  of  His  glory,  ye  who  have  followed 
Me  shall  also  sit  on  twelve  thrones  judging  the  twelve 
tribes  of  Israel."  Now,  when  He  spoke  thus,  the  disci- 
ples at  once  understood  Him.  There  was  needed  from  Him 
not  a  word  of  explanation,  as  was  needed  on  so  many  other 
points,  and  He  gave  none.  Indeed,  they  not  only  under- 
stood Him,  but  they  were  so  eager  to  enter  on  the  Kingdom 
and  receive  the  reward,  that  soon  after  they  begin  to  contend 
"who  should  be  the  greatest  in  the  Kingdom."  And  James 
and  John,  with  their  mother,  even  go  so  far  as  to  ask  Christ 
to  stipulate  beforehand  who  shall  occupy  the  "  right "  and 
"  left "  hand  places  of  honor  in  the  Kingdom.  Even  then 
He  does  not  correct  this  view  of  the  Kingdom.  Even  then 
He  admits  there  are  to  be  these  positions  of  distinguished 
honor  in  it,  just  as  they  had  supposed.  Nay,  He  declares  that 
there  are  persons  for  whom  these  places  are  "  prepared  of 
the  Father."  He  does  not  pronounce  who  they  are.  But 
He  declares  that  these  places  will  be  given  to  these  persons 
and  to  none  others  than  they.  Even  He,  Christ  the  Lord, 


THE  REGENERATION. 


will  not  assume  the  right  to  give  them  to  any  others  than 
those  to  whom  they  are  given  of  the  Father.  But  while 
He  does  not  correct  this  idea  as  to  the  Kingdom,  or  talk 
about  its  being  unfounded  or  carnal,  reserving  to  John 
himself  the  glory  of  picturing  it  in  a  bright  Apocalypse, 
He  does  show  them  the  true  way  to  attain  greatness  in  the 
Kingdom,  viz.:  not  by  means  of  the  ambitious  selfishness 
by  which  the  rulers  of  this  world  so  often  ride  into  their 
places  of  power,  but  by  following  the  Master  in  that  service 
of  self-sacrificing  love,  to  which  He  calls  them  during  the 
present  time,  and  wherein  He  leads  the  way,  and  attains  the 
highest  honor  of  the  Kingdom.  (Luke  22  :  24-30  ;  Matt. 
20  :  20-28  ;  Phil.  2:  5-11.) 

There  was  an  occasion  when  Jesus  uttered  an  extended 
prophecy  concerning  all  the  future  of  the  church  and  the 
world,  up  to  the  very  time  of  His  coming.  (Luke,  chap. 
21.)  When  Jesus  omits  entirely  all  mention  of  any  time  of 
glory  up  to  the  day  of  His  coming,  and  pictures  Israel  cast 
out  and  desolate  up  to  the  very  day  of  the  King's  return 
and  the  expiring  of  the  "times  of  the  Gen  tiles,"  Jerusalem 
being  all  this  time  trodden  down,  He  speaks  to  His  listening 
disciples,  in  entire  accord  with  all  the  prophets  had  said. 
For  throughout  the  prophets,  the  salvation  of  Israel,  the 
return  of  the  King,  the  deliverance  of  the  earth  from  sorrow, 
and  the  Kingdom  in  its  glory,  all  come  together.  When 
they  asked  Him,  "  Lord,  wilt  thou  at  this  time  restore  the 
Kingdom  to  Israel?"  no  explanation  was  needed  and  none 
given  on  either  side.  Nor  did  He  correct  them  in  any 
point  implying  a  wrong  expectation;  but  told  them  simply, 
that  the  time  was  deferred;  that  it  was  in  the  Father's 
own  power,  and  pointed  them  to  the  immediate  work  given 
them  meanwhile  to  do. 

Let  us  now  pass  on  to  the  apostles.  And  here  we  shall 
see  there  was  the  same  mutual  understanding  between  them 


158  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

and  Jewish  believers  of  the  time  as  to  the  meaning  of  the 
prophecies  respecting  the  Kingdom. 

When  Peter,  for  example,  preached  the  words  we  have 
already  produced  at  large  from  Acts  3:  19-21,  in  reference 
to  the  Restitution  of  all  things:  "Repent  ye  and  be  con- 
verted," etc.,  there  is  no  explanation  needed  or  given.  He 
and  his  hearers  were  in  accord.  For  it  was  plain  to  them 
all,  that  all  the  prophets  linked  together  Israel's  repentance 
and  Israel's  refreshing,  the  presence  of  the  Messiah,  the 
Kingdom  of  the  Messiah,  and  the  Restitution  of  all  things. 

When  the  same  apostle  afterwards  points  the  hope  of  the 
waiting  church,  in  his  second  epistle,  to  the  new  heavens 
and  the  new  earth,  and  to  the  longed-for  power  and  coming 
of  the  Lord,  he  just  points  back  to  the  canvas  on  which 
Isaiah  had  already  painted  the  same  glowing  scene  of  the 
Regeneration,  with  Israel  made  honorable  and  holy,  and 
all  flesh  blessed  and  all  the  earth  like  Eden,  in  the  presence 
of  the  Lord  reigning  in  Mt.  Zion  and  before  his  ancients 
gloriously.  It  was  the  plain,  though  glorious,  old  picture, 
known  from  the  beginning. 

When  the  New  Testament  writers  all,  with  recurring 
earnestness,  point  the  churches,  for  hope,  energy,  spiritual 
mindedness,  patience,  to  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  it  was 
just  because  it  was  already  so  plain  in  all  the  Old  Testa- 
ment Scriptures  that  the  Regeneration,  the  Restitu- 
tion of  all  things,  the  Kingdom  in  its  glory,  is  alone  grand 
enough  to  fill  every  heart;  that  the  church  of  God  could 
never  see  any  perfect  blessedness  until  that  Kingdom  was 
come;  and  that  it  was  understood  that  this  Kingdom,  so 
glorious,  could  never  be  seen  until  the  Lord  Himself  was 
visibly  present. 

When  the  Apostle  Paul  declared  of  certain  forms  of 
huge  evil  (e.  g.,  of  the  Man  of  Sin)  that  these  and  he  should 
be  destroyed  only  by  the  "  brightness  of  the  appearing  of 


THE  REGENERATION.  159 

the  great  God  our  Saviour,"  it  was  just  in  keeping  with 
the  old  doctrine  of  the  "  Regeneration"  Isaiah  had  long 
before  portrayed  (as  I  have  shown)  in  his  llth  chapter, 
and  where  he  declares  that  the  Root  of  Jesse  shall  "  slay 
the  Wicked  One  with  the  breath  of  His  mouth." 

And  when  the  Apostle  John,  in  the  Book  of  Revelation, 
foreshows,  in  symbols  with  greater  distinctness  of  detail,  as 
to  time  and  circumstances,  the  King  coining  with  the 
heavenly  warriors  and  overthrowing  the  opposing  earth 
powers,  the  binding  of  Satan  for  one  thousand  years,  the 
Resurrection  of  the  saints  and  their  session  on  thrones, 
reigning  with  Christ,  and  then,  at  the  close  of  the  Millennial 
day,  the  final  attempt  of  Satan,  his  overthrow,  the  second 
resurrection,  and  the  judgment  of  the  rest  of  the  dead,  the 
destruction  at  last  of  Death  and  of  Hades,  and  then  the 
appearance  of  the  kingdom  in  its  completed  form  of  glory, 
God  dwelling  with  men,  men  His  true  people — pain  gone, 
tears  wiped  away,  death  gone,  sorrow  and  crying  gone — all 
the  former  things  passed  away  and  He  that  sits  on  the 
throne  making  all  things  new,  what  is  it  but  a  nearer  view 
and  only  a  more  distinct  one  under  a  fresh  prophetical 
insight  of  that  same  "  Regeneration "  which  has  been 
spoken  of,  by  all  the  holy  prophets  of  God  from  the  olden 
time;  the  one  faith  and  expectation  of  the  church  of  God, 
throughout  every  dispensation. 

Thus  the  New  Testament  and  the  Old  are  in  accord  on 
this  great  theme  plainly  written  in  all  the  prophets. 

And  what  now,  in  the  presence  of  all  this  concurrent 
testimony,  is  the  objection  to  this  view  so  plainly  written? 
The  objection  is,  alas  !  that  it  is  a  carnal,  earthly-minded, 
view.  Alas!  Alas!  Yes,  says  the  objector,  that  plain  mean- 
ing is  just  the  view  which  the  old  Jews  in  Christ's  time  held. 
It  is  a  carnal  view,  and  as  such  was  rebuked  by  Christ. 
How  strangely  must  the  plain  declarations  of  Scripture  lead 


160  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

astray,  if  this  be  the  case  !  But  the  objection  is  unfounded. 
It  is  not  a  carnal  view,  nor  was  it  ever  rebuked  by  Christ. 
Is  it  carnal  to  look  for  the  return  of  the  Lord  from  heaven? 
or  carnal  to  wish  to  see  all  the  nations  walking  in  holiness 
before  the  Lord?  or  to  see  Israel  pre-eminent  in  holy  ser- 
vice before  the  Lord?  or  the  risen  saints  ruling  with  Him 
in  holy  dignity?  or  all  the  earth  like  the  garden  of  the 
Lord  ?  What  is  meant  by  carnal  ?  Does  it  mean  that  all 
this  is  associated  with  this  earth,  and,  therefore,  carnal  ? 
If  this  be  meant,  and  if  contact  with  the  earth  makes 
carnal,  then  Christ  must  have  been  carnal  in  living  here; 
and  Adam  in  his  innocence  carnal,  simply  because  he  lived 
in  Eden  on  the  earth.  But  the  earth  was  made  good  by 
God;  and  the  renewed  earth  will  speak  His  praise  as  the 
dwelling  place  of  His  people.  If  the  souls  of  men  are 
holy,  as  they  will  be  in  the  Regeneration,  contact  with  the 
earth  can  not  make  carnal. 

There  was,  indeed,  a  carnal  idea  which  some  of  the  Jews 
of  Christ's  time,  and  some,  indeed,  of  all  time  have  held. 
And  Jews  are  by  no  means  alone  in  holding  it.  They 
expected  the  Kingdom  without  any  true  renovation  of 
heart.  They  expected  to  be  saved  as  mere  descendants  of 
Abraham  without  regeneration  of  soul,  without  possessing 
Abraham's  spirit.  This  carnality  Christ  rebuked.  And 
so,  indeed,  all  the  way  through  the  old  Testament  did  their 
own  prophets  rebuke  it.  In  these  very  prophecies  of  the 
future  renovation  and  of  Israel's  renewal,  return  and  glory, 
the  prophets  told  them  at  every  pause,  that  this  glory  could 
not  occur  at  that  time,  because  of  the  wickedness  of  the 
people;  and  they  assured  them  that  it  would  come  only 
when  this  blindness  and  corruption  of  theirs  was  removed. 
But  the  expectation  of  the  "  Regeneration  "  such  as  the 
prophets  painted  it,  did  Christ  ever  rebuke  this  ?  Never  ! 
Every  allusion  to  it  by  Christ  and  His  apostles  and  His 


THE  FIltST  RESURRECTION.  161 

prophet  John,  only  portrayed  it  again  with  greater  dis- 
tinctness and  in  brighter  colors  for  faith  and  hope  to  dwell 
upon,  so  that  the  Christian  heart  might  be  stimulated  to 
patience  and  duty. 

This  fourth  view,  then,  we  think,  meets  all  the  require- 
ments of  the  Scripture.  It  accepts  the  plain  and  con- 
sentaneous sense  of  the  Scriptures.  It  is  such  as  a  plain 
reader  of  the  Bible  would  naturally  infer.  It  shows  a 
harmony  between  the  faith  and  hope  of  the  Old  Testament 
church  and  the  New  Testament  church.  It  requires  no 
departure  from  the  ordinary  rules  of  language.  It  brings 
the  Regeneration  to  the  earth,  and  to  man,  just  as  the  curse 
was  upon  the  earth  and  upon  man.  It  alone  meets  all  the 
statements  recorded  in  Scripture  in  reference  to  "  the 
Regeneration."  It  shows  the  all  prevalent  curse,  here,  on 
the  earth;  the  sufferings  to  meet  that  curse  endured,  here, 
on  the  earth;  and  the  glory  to  be  revealed,  here,  on  the 
earth.  It  is  elevating  in  its  influence  on  the  heart.  It  is 
honoring  to  God. 

We  may  sum  up  its  results  as  follows:  If  we  are  asked 
what  that  Regeneration  is  which  the  Scriptures  foreshow, 
it  seems  we  must  be  "  slow  of  heart  to  believe  all  that  the 
prophets  have  spoken  "  of  the  glory  to  follow  the  sufferings 
of  Christ,  if  we  receive  not  these  things  as  truth. 

1.  That  there  is  to  be  a  thorough  renewing,  physical  and 
spiritual,  of  the  earth  and  the  race;  "a  new  heaven  and  a 
new  earth  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness;"  "  a  Kingdom  of 
God  under  the  whole  heaven  that  shall  abide  forever."    For 
so  the  Prophets  Isaiah  and   Daniel  distinctly  declare,  and 
the  Apostle  John  sets  it  forth  in  symbol  just  as  plainly. 

2.  That  this  Kingdom  of  God,  promised  from  the  begin- 
ning, is  identified  with,  and  must  not  be  expected  inde- 
pendently of,  this  earth  on  which  we  tread.     For  Isaiah 
and  all  the  prophets,  in"  every  prophecy,  speak  of  Israel 


162  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

when  restored,  as  abiding  here  forever.  They  testify  that 
all  the  nations  of  the  earth  from  generation  to  generation 
are  to  worship  the  Lord  in  this  renewed  earth,  and  the 
Apostle  John  in  Revelation  makes  no  note  of  any  other 
condition  of  things  up  to  the  very  last  chapter. 

3.  That  this  Regeneration  of  the  earth  is  to  take  place  in 
the  visible  presence  of  God's  King,  the  Lord  Jesus,  who 
"shall  reign  in  Mount  Zion  and  before  His  ancients  glo- 
riously."    For  to  His  presence,  not  only  Isaiah  witnesses 
but   Daniel  also  and  Jeremiah  and  Zechariah,  as  already 
shown  speaking  of  Him  sometimes  as  David's  Son,  some- 
times as  the  true  David,  sometimes  as  the  Lord  our  Right- 
eousness.    So  does  Christ  Himself  witness,  for  He  says  He 
will  personally  come  to  the  earth,  and  will  cast   out  of  the 
kingdom  all  that  offends;  and  "then  the  righteous  shall 
shine  forth  as  the  sun  in  the  Kingdom  of  their  Father." 
And  none  can  mistake  the  Apostle  John's  declaration  that 
it  is  in  the  visible  presence  of  the  returned  Christ  the  reign 
on  earth  shall  take  place. 

4.  That  the  saints  of  God  from  all  ages  shall  reign  with 
Christ  over  the  nations  of  the  saved,  the  dead  saints  being 
raised  in  the  first  resurrection,  the  living  saints  changed, 
and  both  caught  up  and  glorified.     For  so  the  Prophet 
Zechariah  declares:     "The  Lord  my  God  shall  come  and 
all  the  saints  with  Him."     So  Enoch  testified  before  the 
flood.     (Jude  34  : 15.)  And  so  Paul  declares:  "  If  we  suffer 
we  shall  reign  with  Him  " — that  .is,  reign  when  He  reigns. 
So  Christ  declares:  "  He  that  overcometh  shall  sit  with  Me 
on  My  throne."  So  John  declares:  "  They  lived  and  reigned 
with  Christ." 

5.  That  this  Regeneration  is  to  be  preceded  by  a  sweep- 
ing away  of  all  moral  evil  from  the  earth — the   almighty 
act    of  vengeance   on    the   part   of  the  King  against  the 
wicked  powers  of  earth.     For  almost  every  prophecy  1  have 


THE  REGENERATION.  163 

repeated,  and  which  portrays  the  coming  glory,  testifies  to 
the  "indignation  of  the  Lord  against  all  nations."  (See  the 
prophecy  in  Isaiah,  chap.  24  to  chap.  27.)  So  also  Christ 
testifies,  that  at  His  coming,  "  He  will  send  forth  His 
angels,  and  they  shall  gather  out  of  His  kingdom  all  things 
that  offend  and  them  who  do  iniquity."  And  so  Ezekiel 
shows  at  length.  (Chap.  3D.)  And  so  the  Kevelation  testi- 
fies that  Christ,  attended  by  heaven's  army,  shall  go  forth 
in  battle  against  the  Beast  and  the  False  Prophet  and  their 
armies.  (Rev.,  ch.  19.) 

More  especially,  that  these  enemies  shall  be  gathered 
with  intent  against  Jerusalem  and  the  people  of  Israel 
(possibly  in  the  hope  of  proving  the  Scripture  untrue  by  the 
annihilation  of  that  people),  and  that,  there,  shall  be  wit- 
nessed the  Lord's  judgment  against  them.  So  Zechariah 
testifies.  (Ch.  13  and  14.)  And  further,  that  the  last  and 
highest  form  of  evil,  Satan's  masterpiece,  the  Man  of  Sin, 
shall  then  be  destroyed.  So  Isaiah  declares.  (Chap.  11:4.) 
And  so  the  Apostle  Paul  testifies  to  the  Thessalonians.  (2 
Thess.  2:  8.) 

6.  That  the  earth  is  to  be  purified  by  fire.  Isaiah  the 
prophet  testifies:  "  The  Lord  will  come  with  fire  and  with 
His  chariots,  like  a  whirlwind,  to  render  His  anger  with 
fury,  and  His  rebuke  with  flames  of  fire.  For  by  fire  and 
by  sword  will  the  Lord  plead  with  all  flesh,  and  the  slain 
of  the  Lord  shall  be  many."  (Chap.  66:15,  16.)  The 
Apostle  Peter  also  testifies  "  that  the  elements  shall  melt  with 
fervent  heat,"  and  thence  the  new  heavens  and  new  earth 
shall  emerge.  And,  lest  any  should  doubt  whether  God  can 
save  any  alive  under  such  circumstances,  the  apostle  points, 
in  his  second  epistle,  to  Noah  saved  and  to  Lot  saved 
amidst  a  general  destruction,  in  order  to  show  that  "  the 
Lord  knows  how  to  deliver  (frveo-Sai e/c  7mpa<7//oi>)  the  godly  out 
of  trial,  and  to  reserve  the  unjust  unto  the  day  of  judgment 
to  be  punished."  (2  Pet.  2:4-10.) 


164  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

7.  That   after  the  desolating  judgments  with  which  the 
returning  Lord  and  King  will  visit  the  nations,  there  will 
still  be  some  left  when  the  storm  has  passed  by,  who  will 
doubtless  form  the  source  from  which  the  nations  will  spring 
who  shall  dwell  on  the  earth  during  the  Millennial  era.  For 
so  Isaiah  testifies  as  to  this  spared  remnant  in  the  midst  of 
the  wide-spread  destruction  on  the  earth.    (Ch.  24:  5,  6,  13, 
16,  21, 22.)  And  so  Zechariah  declares,  also,  that  some  shall 
escape  of  the  nations  destroyed  of  the  Lord  when  they  come 
against  Jerusalem,  and  that  these  shall  afterward  serve  Him. 
(Ch.  14:16.)     And  so  John   declares  in   the  Revelation: 
That,  after  the  desolating  judgments  foretold  in  chap.  19: 
13,  21,  there  will  nevertheless  be  nations  living  during  the 
Millennial  era,  who  are  not  deceived  by  Satan  then  bound. 
(Rev.  20:3.) 

8.  That  this   Regeneration   shall  be   attended    by  the 
national  repentance  and  conversion  of  the  Jewish  people, 
their  gathering  to  their  own  laud,  and  their  perpetual  resi- 
dence there,  exalted  as  a  people  to  be  a  blessing  in  all  the 
earth.     This,  many  passages  already  quoted,  declare.     (See 
Isaiah  61:  7-9;  60:9-14.) 

9.  That  in  the  "  Regeneration,"  therefore,  there  will  be 
living  men  in  the  flesh,  distinct  from  the  glorified  saints 
who  rule  with  Christ,  and  these  men  will  be  organized  as 
nations.      For  so  Isaiah  speaks  of  the  remnant  who  are 
escaped  of  the  nations  after  the  Lord's  judgment  of  the 
ungodly.     So  John  speaks  of  the  nations  of  the  earth  (after 
the  curse  is  gone)  as  walking  in  the  light  of  the  New  Jeru- 
salem.   So  the  prophets  speak  of  Israel  as  being  a  gathered 
nation   from   generation  to  generation;    u  their  seed    and 
their  seed's  seed  dwelling  in  the  land  forever."     So  they 
tell    us    of  the    nations    ever    rejoicing   in    Israel's    joy. 
(Ezek.chap.  36,  chap.  37;  Is.  61:  9.)     So  they  speak  of  the 
King  Messiah  reigning    "  as  long  as  the  sun  and   moon 


THE  REGENERATION. 


endure;"  all  kings  meantime  bowing  before  Him  "  through- 
out all  generations;"  and  "all  nations  calling  Him  blessed." 
(Psalm  72:  5-11-17.) 

10.  That  to  bring  about  this  blessed  condition  of  things 
the  Spirit  shall  be  poured  out  in  an  unprecedented  manner 
on  all  flesh.     So  the  Prophet  Joel  declares  (chap.  2:  28-32) 
pointing,  by  his  predicted  signs  to  the  end  of  this  dispen- 
sation of  the  Spirit,  and  to  the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles 
(that  are  spared)  most  probably  by  Jewish  instrumental^ 
a  pregnant  prophecy  that  takes  in  the  whole  Messianic  time, 
as  one  vast  period,  the  beginning  and  end  of  which,  are 
foreshortened  into  one   and  the  same    picture.      And  so 
Isaiah  intimates,  as  to  the  times  of  the  new  heavens  and 
new  earth. 

"  I  will  set  a  sign  among  them,  and  I  will  send  those  that  escape  of 
them  unto  the  nations  to  Tarshish,  Pul  and  Lud,  that  draw  the  bow,  to 
Tubal,  and  Javan,  to  the  isles  afar  off,  that  have  not  heard  my  fame, 
neither  have  seen  my  glory  ;  and  they  shall  declare  my  glory  among  the 
Gentiles."  (Is.  66:  18-20.) 

And  so  the  Apostle  James  intimates: 

"  And  to  this  agree  the  words  of  the  prophets  ;  as  it  is  written.  After 
this  I  will  return  and  will  build  again  the  tabernacle  of  David  which  is 
fallen  down;  and  I  will  build  again  the  ruins  thereof,  and  I  will  set  it 
up  ;  that  the  residue  of  men  might  seek  after  the  Lord,  and  all  the 
Gentiles,  upon  whom  my  name  is  called,  saith  the  Lord,  who  doeth  all 
these  things  ;  known  unto  God  are  all  his  works  from  the  beginning  of 
the  world."  (Acts  15  :  15-18.) 

11.  That  Satan,  the  Arch  Enemy,  will  be  then  bound  so 
as  to  deceive  the  nations  no  more  until  the  thousand  years 
are  past.     So  the  Apostle  John  declares  explicitly.     (Kev. 
20:1-7.) 

12.  That  all  the  nations  shall  then  be  holy.     So  Isaiah 
says  to  Israel: 

"All  thy  children  shall  be  taught  of  God."  "None  shall  say  to 
another,  know  the-  Lord,  for  all  shall  know  Him."  "  They  shall  not 
hurt  nor  destroy  in  all  my  holy  mountain,  for  the  earth  shall  be  full  of 


166  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea."  "All  nations 
shall  come  and  worship  before  Thee."  (Is.  54:  13;  Jer.  31:  34;  Is. 
11:  9;  Rev.  15:  4.) 

13.  That  the  race,  on  earth  then  made  holy,  will  continue 
on  the  earth,  in  perpetual  generations.  For  so  Psalm  72d 
intimates,  as  already  quoted,  (vv.  5,  7,  8,  IT.)  So  God 
declares  that  the  earth  will  abide  safe  from  destruction  by 
flood  under  His  everlasting  covenant,  throughout  "perpetual 
generations."  (Gen.  9:  12-17.)  So  Psalm  145:  13,  testifies, 
that  the  Lord's  Kingdom  continues,  as  an  everlasting 
Kingdom  (Heb.  Kingdom  of  the  Ages)  "throughout 
all  generations"  And  thus  generations  continue  as 
long  as  the  Kingdom  continues.  So  Psalm  135:  13,  tells 
us  that  God's  memorial  is  like  His  name,  forever, 
even  from  generation  to  generation."  So  Isaiah  testifies, 
that  of  the  increase  of  Christ's  Kingdom  on  the  throne 
of  David  there  will  be  no  end.  (Is.  9:  6,  7.)  And 
as  His  Kingdom  is  to  embrace  all  the  nations  of  Israel, 
and  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  its  increase  must,  in 
accord  with  these  other  Scriptures,  be  by  the  never- 
ending  generations  which  shall  come  under  its  beneficent 
sway.  So  also  Isaiah  testifies  (59:  31),  and  Joel  with 
him  (3:  20),  that  Israel  shall  continue  "  from  genera- 
tion to  generation,  forever."  So  Daniel  also  declares 
(chap.  7: 13, 14, 18,  27)  that  Christ's  Kingdom  on  earth  is  to 
be  a  Kingdom  wherein  "  all  peoples,  nations  and  languages 
shall  serve  Him,"  and  that  this  Kingdom,  embracing  all 
nations  and  languages,  "  shall  not  pass  away  nor  be  destroyed 
forever."  Paul  also  speaks  of  "  glory  being  given  to 
God  by  the  church  in  Christ,  unto  all  the  generations  of 
the  Age  of  Ages"  The  rendering  of  our  version,  "  through- 
out all  ages  world  without  end, "-is  a  paraphrase  and  not 
a  translation.  The  words  are,  '?v  TJJ  'vtKb/oip  ev  xptoru  'irjaov  etc 

yeveaf  TOV  aiuvoq  ruv  aiuvuv.    (Eph.  3*.  21.)     TllC  u  church" 


THE  REGENERATION.  167 

is  the  one  body  of  believers  of  Jews  and  Gentiles,  fellow- 
heirs  in  Christ,  of  which  Paul  had  just  been  speaking. 
They  are  to  be  raised  from  the  dead  and  glorified  together 
as  Christ's  bride  reigning  with  Him  over  the  nations.  And 
Paul  tells  us  that  praise  shall  be  rendered  to  God  by  this 
glorified  church,  throughout  all  the  perpetual  generations 
of  men  dwelling  on  the  earth. 

And  so,  finally,  the  Apostle  John,  in  the  Apocalypse, 
gives  not  the  slightest  intimation  of  any  cessation  of  the 
nations  on  the  earth.  On  the  contrary,  even  after  the 
second  resurrection  is  passed,  and  Satan  cast  out,  and  after 
the  Kingdom  is  established  in  its  glory,  these  nations  are 
represented  as  still  walking  in  the  light  of  the  heavenly 
rule  of  Christ  and  His  saints  symbolized  by  the  New 
Jerusalem  come  down  out  of  heaven  to  earth.  (Rev.  21: 
22-27;  22:  1-5.) 

14.  That  the  curse  shall  be  removed  from  the  earth  itself, 
and  inanimate  creation  made  to  participate  in  the  joy  of 
the  "  sons  of  God."  So  testify  the  prophets.  The  waste 
places  are  to  be  made  like  Eden,  and  the  deserts  like  the  gar- 
den of  the  Lord.  (Ez.  34:  27;  36:  11,29,  30,  34-36.  Is.  51: 
3.  Ps.  67:  4-6.)  And  so  the  Apostle  Paul  represents  the 
case  in  his  account  of  the  Palingenesia,  towards  which  the 
creature,  "made  subject  to  vanity  for  man's  sake,"  looks 
forward  with  ardent  expectation.  (Rom.  8:  18-23.) 

Thus  the  Regeneration  will  be  a  blessed  change  affecting 
the  whole  earth  and  the  race  living  upon  it.  The  long 
"Winter  has  indeed  stripped  off  the  foliage  and  made  it  for 
a  long  time  look  like  waste  and  barren.  But  the  reviving 
Spring  is  soon  to  come  and  bring  forth  a  "Summer"  of 
glory,  forever.  (Luke  21:  30.)  The  centuries  of  earth's 
curse  and  earth's  disorders  and  sins  will  indeed  have  been 
among  men  endured.  That  fact  must  remain  forever  true. 
And  they  "  who  knew  not  God,  and  obeyed  not  the  gospel " 


168  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

and  died  in  their  sins,  must  indeed  be  cast  out  from  God 
forever.  But  the  race,  as  a  race,  is  redeemed,  and  sees  at 
length  all  nations  of  the  earth  walking  with  God.  Christ's 
blood  avails  to  the  uttermost  generation.  "None  need 
say  to  another — Know  the  Lord,  for  all  shall  know  Him 
from  the  least  to  the  greatest."  "All  thy  children  shall 
be  taught  of  God  and  great  shall  be  the  peace  of  thy  chil- 
dren." "  From  generation  to  generation  they  shall  come  up 
to  Jerusalem  to  serve  the  Lord."  "For  all  the  ends  of 
the  world  shall  worship  God."  So  testify  Isaiah  and  all 
the  prophets. 

Doubtless,  time  will  be  needed,  after  the  Lord  comes  to 
introduce  the  Millennial  reign,  before  His  glory  is  com- 
pleted. God's  word  declares  so.  Peter  speaks,  not  merely 
of  the  Restitution,  but  of  the  "  times  "  of  the  Restitution, 
— a  vast  period.  And  the  Apostle  Paul  testifies  "  He 
must  reign  till  He  has  put  all  enemies  under  His  feet,"  and 
that  "  the  last  enemy  which  shall  be  destroyed  is  Death." 
(ICor.  15:25,  26.) 

It  would  seem  from  this  that  during  the  Millennial  reign 
which  is,  indeed,  a  far  brighter  and  more  blessed  era,  and 
immeasurably  more  glorious  than  the  present;  and  while  all 
sorrow  and  care  shall  then  be  gone;  and,  as  Isaiah  declares, 
the  longevity  of  God's  elect  shall  be  "  as  the  days  of  a 
tree,"  (Isa.  65 :  22)  yet  Satan  is  not  completely  overthrown 
until  its  close,  and  while  other  enemies  are  not  destroyed 
Death  must  still  continue.  For,  as  Paul  declares,  Death  i& 
the  last  enemy  to  be  destroyed.  At  the  close  comes  Satan's 
final  effort,  his  overthrow,  the  general  judgment,  the  banish- 
ment of  the  wicked  dead  to  hell,  and  last  of  all,  Death  and 
Hades  are  destroyed.  And  then  the  Kingdom  is  seen  in  its 
final  form  of  perennial  blessedness — the  Regeneration  is 
completed. 

Thus  the  Seed  of  the  woman  will  have  entirely  destroyed 


THE  REGENERATION.  169* 

all  the  works  of  the  Devil,  and  the  curse,  uttered  in  Eden,  is 
wiped  away.  At  the  fall,  there  hung  in  hideous  darkness 
over  man,  alienation  from  God,  a  cursed  earth,  pains  and 
labors  and  tears,  death,  the  grave  and  Hades.  Now  at  last  all 
are  gone — even  the  last  enemy,  Death,  gone-  forever — 
and  so  the  triumphant  voice  of  gladness  from  heaven  at 
last  announces  its  arrival. 

"  I  heard*  a  great  voice  out  of  heaven  saying,  Behold  the  taber- 
nacle of  God  is  with  men  and  He  will  dwell  with  them ;  and  they  shall 
be  His  people,  and  God  Himself  shall  be  with  them  and  be  their  God. 
And  God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  their  eyes,  and  there  shall  be 
no  more  death,  neither  sorrow  nor  crying,  neither  shall  there  be  any 
more  pain.  For  the  former  things  are  passed  away.  And  He  that 
sat  upon  the  throne  said,  Behold  I  make  all  things  new."  (Rev.  21 :  l-5.> 
It  is  the  glorious  word  of  victory  uttered  by  the  Son, — {nrarerdKrai !  all 
things  "  subjected!'  — ykyovs  \  "  it  is  done!"  the  regenesis  is  accomplished  t 
Glory!  Glory!  Eternal  Glory ! 

"  One  song  employs  all  nations; 

"  Worthy  the  Lamb  for  He  was  slain  for  us. 

"  The  dwellers  in  the  vales  and  on  the  rocks 

"  Shout  to  each  other;  and  the  mountain  tops 

"  From  distant  mountains  catch  the  flying  joy, 

"  Till  nation  after  nation  taught  the  strain, 

"  Earth  rolls  the  rapturous  hosannah  round. 

"Thus  heavenward  all  things  tend.    For  all  once  were 

"  Perfect,  and  all  must  be  at  length  restored. 

"  Come,  then,  and  added  to  Thy  many  crowns 

"  Receive  yet  one,  the  crown  of  all  the  earth ; 

"  Thou  who  alone  art  worthy !    It  was  Thine 

"  By  ancient  covenant  ere  nature's  birth ; 

"  And  Thou  hast  made  it  Thine  by  purchase  since 

"  And  overpaid  its  value  by  Thy  Blood. 

"  Come,  then,  and  added  to  Thy  many  crowns, 

"Receive  yet  one  as  radiant  as  the  rest, 

"  Due  to  Thy  last  and  most  effectual  work, 

44  Thy  word  fulfilled— the  conquest  of  a  world." 

What  a  joy  does  it  bring  to  the  heart  to  contemplate  the 
blessedness  which  this  earth,  so  long  the  abode  of  sin  and 
sorrow,  shall  one  day  see  forever;  True,  indeed,  many  shall 


170  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

never  lift  their  eyes  on  that  day  of  peace  and  blessing. 
They  are  given  up  to  this  present  world.  Christ  says, 
"  Except  a  man  be  born  again  he  shall  never  see  the  King- 
dom of  God."  How  sad  to  have  seen  this  earth  only  in  its 
sorrows  and  never  in  its  bridal  day  of  joy  and  gladness! 
But  to  the  holy  nations  dwelling  on  the  earth  in  that  time  of 
perfected  glory,  what  words  can  describe  the  joy  which  the 
scenes  of  that  day  will  yield!  What  a  contrast  between 
the  earth  at  its  best  estate  now  and  the  redeemed  earth  then! 
It  is  true,  indeed,  that  even  now,  while  the  curse  still  hangs 
as  a  blight  upon  us,  God's  mercy  does  soften  the  curse. 
Like  a  bright  star  hung  on  the  horizon,  when  clouds  cover 
the  sky,  still  giving  token  of  the  glories  of  the  concealed 
•heaven,  so  God's  mercy-drops  sweeten  the  bitter  cup  even  of 
the  present.  But  what  will  it  be  when  the  light  fills  all  the 
heavens!  Think  of  the  households,  for  example,  of  the 
earth  redeemed.  Ye  mothers  of  the  present  world,  tried 
and  anxious,  think  of  them.  There  will  be  then  no  fear  for 
that  lovely  circle  around  the  mother's  knee,  for  the  inhabi- 
tants of  that  world  shall  never  say,  "  I  am  sick;"  no  fear 
of  evil  passions  springing  up  within  those  young  hearts, 
for  all  temptation  and  sin  will  be  gone;  no  doubt  of  their 
future  character,  for  "  all  their  children  shall  be  taught  of 
God;"  no  days  of  watching  or  nights  of  anxiety  and  weak- 
ness. All  the  earth  filled  with  homes  of  holiness  and 
peace!  Oh,  glorious  day  begin! 

Think  of  the  intercourse  of  the  nations  in  that  day 
Even  now,  indeed,  we  have  Christian  civilization,  and  this 
has  meliorated  the  condition  and  the  intercourse  of  the 
world.  We  go  to  a  foreign  shore,  and  we  are  sure  of 
restraining  laws  and  of  mercy  for  strangers.  We  are  sure 
of  a  guard  for  our  persons  and  the  means  of  health,  and 
yet  how  every  street  and  every  abode,  high  and  low,  tells 
of  sore  needs,  and  of  poverty,  and  crime,  and  sorrow,  and 


THE  REGENERATION.  171 

sin.  But  what  a  brotherhood  will  the  holy  nations  of  that 
day  present!  The  wanderer  from  his  own  home  will  only 
exchange  one  home  and  welcome  for  another.  From  North 
to  South,  from  East  to  West,  all  nations  sing  the  same  song 
of  redeeming  love.  All  bow  in  fealty  to  the  same  glorious 
King;  all  show  the  same  fruits  of  the  Spirit.  Every  appoint- 
ment of  government  shall  be  in  conformity  with  the  right- 
eous rule,  to  do  honor  to  the  King  of  all  the  earth  and  to 
bless  all  under  its  sway.  For,  "A  King  shall  reign  in 
righteousness  and  princes  shall  rule  in  judgment;  and  a 
Man  shall  be  as  a  hiding  place  from  the  wind,  and  a  covert 
from  the  tempest;  as  rivers  of  water  in  a  dry  place,  as  the 
shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a  weary  land." 

It  is  a  blessedness  to  us  now  to  know  that  God's  holy 
angels  watch  over  us,  "  ministers  to  the  heirs  of  salvation." 
But  in  that  day,  when  the  Lord  is  here,  shall  not  angels 
visit  men  as  they  did  in  Eden?  But  even  more  than  this; 
what  must  be  the  blessedness  of  men  to  behold  their  own 
flesh  and  blood  raised  to  honor  and  glory  with  Christ,  and 
ruling  and  watching  over  angels!  Nay,  even  more  still;  to 
see  God's  own  Son  in  their  own  nature,  King  of  Kings  and 
Lord  of  Lords,  ruling  in  the  whole  earth? 

And  to  the  Lord  Himself,  will  that  day  of  earth's  Regen- 
eration bring  no  special  joy?  Will  He  not  see  in  it  of  the 
travail  of  His  soul,  and  be  satisfied  ?  Will  it  be  no  joy  to 
behold  this  earth  where  Satan  so  long  ruled  as  Prince  of 
this  world,  and  Christ's  fellow  men  were  ruined,  and  where 
His  own  blessed  feet  trod  the  thorny  path  of  sorrow,  and 
where  His  heart  was  weighed  down  with  grief  for  man's 
sins,  and  where  He  hung  on  the  cross,  and  where  He  lay 
in  the  grave,  become  the  place  of  His  triumph  and  the 
scene  of  His  glory  ? 

And  what  of  that  precious  blood  shed  upon  Calvary  ? 
Will  its  virtue  be  expended  in  redeeming  only  a  part  of  the 


172  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

race;  then  to  see  that  race  cut  short  and  no  further  appli- 
cations of  that  precious  blood?  That  would  be  but  a  partial 
triumph  indeed.  Satan  would,  in  this  view,  have  led  cap- 
tive still  the  great  multitude  of  men  in  all  ages;  and  death 
would  still  reign  down  to  the  very  last  generation.  But  to 
see  the  end  of  sin  on  the  earth  come — to  see  the  blood  made 
availing  before  God  for  countless  generations,  never  to  lose 
its  power  of  adding  new  trophies  to  God's  grace!  That  will 
magnify  Christ's  blood  and  Christ's  righteousness  indeed. 

Men  look  back  to  Eden  sometimes,  and  sigh  to  think  that 
by  Adam's  fall  the  race  lost  the  happiness  they  might 
have  enjoyed  if  Adam  had  stood.  But  what,  at  the 
best,  would  this  have  been?  A  world  standing  in  its  own 
righteousness,  and  hence  probably  exposed  in  every  genera- 
tion to  fall.  But  the  redeemed  earth  will  see  its  millions 
saved  forever,  beyond  all  fear  of  falling,  for  Christ's  blood 
and  Christ's  righteousness  "  perfects  forever."  (Heb.  10 :14.) 

What  God  will  do  with  this  earth,  regenerated,  and  with 
its  saved  race,  we  know  not.  One  thing  we  know:  He 
who  will  sit  as  King  over  all  in  human  nature,  our  Brother, 
is  appointed  of  the  Father,  Head  over  all  things — the  Head 
of  creation.  We  know,  too,  as  the  apostle  tells  us,  that  it 
is  God's  design  "  to  show  in  the  ages  to  come  the  exceeding 
riches  of  His  grace,  in  His  kindness  towards  us  in  Christ 
Jesus."  (Eph.  2-7.)  But  who  may  be  the  students  of 
these  marvels  of  mercy  we  know  not.  God's  word  reveals 
no  more.  Only  let  us  be  sure  that  a  world  redeemed  by 
the  blood  of  God's  own  Son,  and  bound  to  Him,  through  the 
requirements  of  the  covenant  of  mercy  in  everlasting  fel- 
lowship, is  not  saved  without  some  object  worthy  of 
God  who  redeems  it. 

Let  us  then,  brethren,  hear  the  voice  which  comes  to  us 
through  all  God's  holy  prophets.  Amidst  the  temptations, 
and  the  vain  show,  and  the  sorrows  of  this  world,  let  us 


THE  REGENERATION.  173 

cheer  our  hearts  with  a  believing  view  of  the  coming  glory, 
when  all  the  earth  shall  be  full  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
Lord,  and  men  shall  say:  "Behold,  this  land  which  was 
desolate  is  become  like  the  garden  of  Eden."  Let  us  pray 
for  Israel,  that  the  Lord  may  pardon  his  iniquities  and 
bring  in  the  day  of  his  deliverance.  Let  us  diligently 
spread  the  Lord's  glorious  "  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  "  to  all 
lands  under  heaven,  and  by  His  aid  gather  out  of  every 
nation  a  people  to  His  praise.  Let  us  keep  our  garments 
white,  that  we  walk  not  naked  in  the  day  of  His  coming,  and 
men  see  our  shame.  Let  us  beware  of  having  "  our  hearts 
surcharged  with  surfeiting  and  drunkenness  and  the  cares 
of  this  life,  and  so  that  day  which  shall  come  as  a  snare 
upon  all  the  earth,"  come  upon  us,  too,  unawares.  Let 
us  rejoice  over  our  dying  ones,  that  they  are  soon  to  come 
again  with  the  Lord  and  see  the  glory  of  the  Regeneration. 
And  let  us  never  cease  to  pray,  as  our  only  hope  for  the 
approach  of  that  day  of  glory,  "Come,  Lord  Jesus;  come 
quickly  1 " 


174  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


THE  KINGDOM  AND  THE   CHUECH. 

BY  PROFESSOR   H.   LUMMIS,   METUODIST,  MONSON,  MASS. 

THERE  are,  doubtless,  words  in  the  Sacred  Scriptures  that 
are  very  imperfectly  understood,  some  that  are  not  under- 
stood at  all.  The  meaning  given  in  our  version,  for  example, 
may  be  the  best  that  is  known,  and  yet  no  careful  student 
of  the  Bible  can  safely  accept  these  temporary  substitutes 
as  the  strict  equivalents  of  the  original  words.  The  words 
which  name  the  theme  now  presented  are  not  of  this  obscure 
class.  They  are  used  so  often  and  in  so  many  different 
connections  that  it  is  not  a  little  surprising  to  find  such 
divergencies  of  opinion  as  to  their  real  meaning.  And 
yet  no  more  so  perhaps  than  in  a  score  of  kindred  cases 
where  differences  depend  less  on  the  data  than  on  the  point 
of  observation,  and  on  the  wishes  that  fashion  results.  I 
do  not  believe  that  differing  views  are  both  right  where 
they  antagonize,  but  I  think  I  do  see  why  differences  and 
antagonisms  exist,  and  also  that  they  have  a  ground  less 
iu  truth  itself,  than  in  circumstances.  If  the  Spirit  of  truth 
direct  us,  there  is  no  good  reason  why  we  should  not  arrive 
at  substantial  agreement. 

The  word  basileia,  uniformly  rendered  kingdom  in  our 
version  (with  but  a  single  exception,  Rev.  17:  18,)  occurs 
in  the  New  Testament  159  times  in  the  received  text.  Two 
of  these,  Matthew  6:  33,  and  Mark  1:  14,  are  wanting  in  the 
critical  texts,  while  two,  Rev.  1:  6,  (instead  of  basileia, 
kings),  and  Rev.  5:10,  are  added  by  the  critical  texts. 
This  uniformity  of  rendering  is  almost  remarkable  in  a 
word  occurring  so  often,  especially  when  we  remember  that 


THE  KINGDOM  AND  THE  CHURCH.  17  5- 

our  translators  so  often  varied  a  rendering  for  rhetorical 
effect.  Another  point  worthy  of  passing  notice  is,  that  no 
word  is  rendered  kingdom  in  the  ^&w  Testament.  Basileia 
occurs  in  the  Septuagint  version  of  the  Old  Testament  248 
times  as  the  rendering  of  some  derivative  of  the  root  malak 
of  the  verb  itself.  Such  a  multitude  of  occurrences  under  so 
great  a  variety  of  circumstances  gives  so  complete  a  key  to 
the  idea,  that  any  ordinarily  bright  child  of  ten  years  old, 
if  all  verses  in  which  the  word  kingdom  occurs  were 
given  to  it,  with  this  word  obliterated,  the  child's  wisdom 
would  be  able  to  supply  the  proper  sign  for  the  idea.  The 
word  as  to  its  root-idea  was  one  of  the  every-day  words  of 
Hebrew  life,  and  one  of  the  common  words  to  the  Hellen- 
izing  Jew.  That  this  is  true  is  recognized  by  the  foremost 
scholars  of  the  age.  I  quote  but  one,  Dr.  E.  B.  Pusey,  one 
of  the  very  first  Hebrew  scholars  of  the  English  Church. 
I  give  an  estimate  of  his  scholarship  by  Dr.  J.  J.  Stewart 
Perowne,  the  very  able  translator  and  annotator  of  the 
Psalms,  himself  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  competent 
exegetes  in  England.  Dr.  Perowne  says  of  Dr.  Pusey,  in 
regard  to  his  Commentary  on  Daniel:  "He  has  brought  to 
bear  on  this  point  (the  genuineness  of  Daniel)  a  perfect 
encyclopaedia  of  learning.  It  is  by  far  the  most  complete 
work  which  has  yet  appeared,  no  continental  writer  having 
handled  the  subject  with  any  thing  like  the  same  fulness  or 
breadth  of  treatment."  Dr.  Pusey  thus  speaks  concerning 
the  expressions,  "Kingdom  of  God,"  "Kingdom  of 
Heaven."  These  phrases  occur  in  the  gospels  as  words 
as  well  known  to  the  whole  Jewish  people  as  faith,  hope, 
charity,  worship  or  any  other  religious  term.  They  are 
not  explained,  but  are  assumed  to  be  understood.  Of  these 
equivalent  terms,  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  especially 
suggested  by  Daniel's  words:  "The  God  of  Heaven  shall 
set  up  a  kingdom  which  shall  never  be  destroyed,  as  also 


176  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

by  the  contract  with  those  kingdoms  of  man  which  should 
arise  from  the  earth,"  pp.  84-85.  "  Daniel  foretold,  not  a 
kingdom  in  Israel  only,  not  a  conversion  of  the  heathen 
only,  but  that  He  who  sat  above,  in  form  like  a  son  of  man, 
should  be  worshipped  by  all  peoples,  nations  and  languages, 
and  that  this  kingdom  should  not  pass  away."  Ib.,  p.  87. 

It  is  generally  admitted  that  the  Jews  of  the  time  of 
Christ,  and  for  a  time  preceding,  had  been  expecting, 
eagerly,  the  coming  of  the  Messiah,  the  establishment 
of  a  kingdom  on  the  earth  and  a  sway  over  the  nations. 
"Why  should  they  not?  Had  there  been  anything  in  the 
prophecies  already  fulfilled  that  would  lead  them  to  expect 
a  mystical  application  of  those  glowing  words  that  prom- 
ised a  deliverer  and  a  king?  Look  over  the  pages  of 
prophecy.  Ponder  the  historical  record  which  relates  to 
the  fulfillment  of  some  of  these.  Remember,  too,  that 
Israel  as  a  Nation  had  been  witness  to  many  of  the  most 
remarkable  of  them.  I  quote  a  passage  from  Isaiah, 
13:17-22. 

Take  another  passage  from  Jeremiah,  34:2,  3;  also 
24:  4,  5.  Again,  God  speaks  thus  through  Jeremiah: 
"  Behold  I  will  send  and  take  all  the  families  of  the  North, 
saith  the  Lord,  and  Nebuchadnezzar,  the  King  of  Babylon, 
my  servant,  and  will  bring  them  against  this  land,  and 
against  the  inhabitants  thereof.  .  .  .  And  this  whole 
land  shall  be  a  desolation  and  an  astonishment,  and  these 
nations  shall  serve  the  King  of  Babylon  seventy  years." 
(Jer.  25:  9-11.) 

ACCURACY    OF    THE    PROPHECIES. 

My  limits  forbid  me  to  quote  at  length,  as  I  might,  the 
foretold  return;  the  declaration  that  Cyrus  should  perform 
the  Lord's  pleasure  in  the  restoration  of  Israel ;  that  Jeru- 
salem should  be  rebuilt  and  the  foundation  of  the  temple 
relaid.  I  note  these  striking  predictions  to  show  that  the 


THE  KINGDOM  AND  THE  CHURCH.  177 

Jews  had  full  warrant  to  expect  a  King  as  literally  such  as 
was  David  or  Solomon,  and  a  kingdom  as  literally  such  as  was 
theirs.  I  am  amazed  when  men  talk  about  the  obscurity 
of  unfulfilled  prophecy.  If  in  the  Book  of  Daniel  and  in 
Revelation  there  be  a  difficulty  and  obscurity,  it  grows  out 
of  the  symbols  used,  and  not  out  of  the  prophecy.  History 
recorded  in  symbols  would  be  just  as  dark  and  hard  to 
understand  without  the  key  to  the  symbols. 

If  any  man  is  familiar  with  the  history  that  gives  the 
facts  that  followed  these  prophecies,  and,  as  believers  in  the 
Bible  as  a  reliable  record  hold,  in  fulfillment  of  these 
prophecies,  he  must  see  the  marvellous  correspondence  with 
the  literal  statements  of  the  prophecy  and  the  simple  facts 
that  followed.  God,  through  the  prophet,  declares  that  He 
will  stir  up  the  Medes  against  Babylon,  and  the  Medes  are 
actors  in  the  taking  of  Babylon  and  the  slaughters  that 
follow.  The  desolations  of  the  laud  harmonize  so  fully 
with  the  prophecy  that  one  needs  only  to  change  the  tenses 
to  have  the  history.  This  the  undersigned  testimony  of 
iniidel  writers  fully  confirms.  The  prophecy  to  Zedekiah 
that  he  should  see  the  eyes  of  the  King  of  Babylon,  and 
yet  that  he  should  not  see  Babylon  though  he  should  die 
there,  that  he  should  not  die  by  violence,  but  that  he  should 
die  in  peace,  are  literally  in  striking  harmony  with  the 
facts  of  history.  To  declare  as  some  do  that  the  prophecies 
are  designed  in  a  general  way  to  give  consolation  and  hope 
to  believers  under  trial  by  a  bright  picture  of  future  good, 
shows  an  extraordinary  ignorance  of  the  prophetic  Scrip- 
tures, which  are  crowded  with  minatory  as  really  as  with 
consolatory  predictions. 

The  Jews  had  experienced  in  detail  so  literal  a  fulfillment 
of  the  woes  and  bitterness  of  long-threatened  captivity  in 
case  they  forgot  God,  that  it  would  be  astounding  if  they 
did  not  read  the  prophecies  as  foreseen  history. 
12 


178  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

If  it  be  said  that  they  evidently  did  misunderstand  the 
prophecies  that  referred  to  Christ,  it  will  be  fair  to  ask,. 
"  did  they  misunderstand  the  prophecy  that  spoke  of  the 
place  of  His  birth  ? "  When  anxious  Herod  heard  that  one 
had  been  born  King  of  the  Jews  he  evidently  dreaded  inter- 
ference with  his  own  claim  on  the  crown  of  Palestine.  But 
when  he  asked  where  the  Messiah  should  be  born,  unhesi- 
tatingly the  Scribes,  conversant  with  the  prophets,  replied  : 
In  Bethlehem,  of  Judea,  for  thus  it  is  written  by  the 
prophet:  "  And  thou  Bethlehem  in  the  land  of  Judea,  are 
not  the  least  among  the  princes  of  Judea,  for  out  of  thee 
shall  come  forth  a  Governor,  that  shall  rule  my  people 
Israel."  This  place  was  Bethlehem,  the  very  birthplace  of 
David,  literal  Bethlehem ;  the  birth  was  not  mystical,  but 
literal ;  was  Israel  to  be  mystical  Israel,  and  the  rule  mys- 
tical rule?  Later  in  the  history  of  the  King  Jesus,  they 
might  have  read,  and  some  of  them  doubtless  did:  u  He 
made  His  grave  with  the  wicked  and  with  the  rich  in  His 
death."  Was  the  grave  a  figurative  one,  was  the  death 
figurative?  (Isa.  53:9.)  Were  not  all  the  terms  of  the 
prophecy — wicked,  rich,  grave,  death — to  be  taken  in  the 
strictest  natural  meaning?  There  was  one  respect  in  which 
the  willful  and  wicked  Jews  went  wrong,  but  it  was  not  in 
taking  the  prophecies  that  spoke  of  Christ  literally,  as  lit- 
erally as  if  they  had  been  simply  written  history.  They 
did  not  clearly  apprehend,  as  they  would  have  done  if  they 
had  sat  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  in  a  teachable  spirit,  and  had 
listened  to  His  unfolding  of  the  plan  of  His  mission,  that 
the  glory  of  the  King  was  not  to  appear  before  He  should 
come  to  His  Kingdom.  They  were  right,  entirely  right,  in 
associating  with  the  Messiah  power  and  great  glory,  power 
exerted,  glory  displayed;  but  they  were  wrong  in  expecting 
royal  dignity  in  the  surroundings  of  His  cradle,  and  royal 
splendor  in  the  associations  of  His  boyhood.  They  over- 


THE  KINGDOM  AND  THE  CHURCH.  179 

looked  the  foretold  lowliness  in  the  foretold  glory.  Had 
they  received  Him  meek  and  lowly,  as  it  was  foretold 
He  should  be,  they  might  have  seen  the  King  in  His  beauty, 
as  they  will  see  Him  at  His  return,  after  judicial 
blindness  and  eclipse  of  their  faith  for  almost  twenty 
centuries. 

Is  it  presuming  to  suppose  that  if  the  people  of  Israel 
had  received  their  King  when  He  came,  and  just  as  He 
was,  in  the  spirit  of  good  old  Simeon,  that  the  world 
would  have  waited  through  this  long  night  of  wretchedness? 
Might  not  the  Messiah  with  His  sympathetic,  energetic 
subjects  have  wrought  speedily  the  work  that  has  been 
done,  so  far  as  it  has  been  done  so  feebly,  so  apathetically, 
so  inefficiently,  by  the  Church?  Israel  delayed,  as  Chris- 
tians have  delayed,  and  are  still  delaying,  instead  of  hasten- 
ing, the  coming  of  the  day  of  God.  No  "  hastening  unto 
the  day  of  God,"  as  our  version  unfortunately  reads.  It 
was  right  that  the  Jews  should  expect  in  tfie  Kingdom  of 
the  Messiah  prosperity.  Stretch  that  word  to  its  utmost 
limit — let  it  comprise  all  good — it  means,  it  can  mean  no 
more  than  the  prophecies  implicitly  or  explicitly  foretell. 
No  more  than  Israel  might  anticipate  under  their  King, 
the  literal  descendant  of  David,  the  lineal  heirto  his  throne. 
Do  not  let  me  be  annoyed  by  the  suggestions  that  all  bless- 
ings to  the  eye,  to  the  ear,  to  the  taste,  that  Paradise 
restored  on  earth  must  be  inconsistent  with  the  spiritual 
good — higher  good  certainly — God  designs  to  bring  to 
men  through  His  Son.  The  tithe  of  mint,  and  cummin,  and 
anise  was  a  little  thing;  that  it  should  take  the  place  of 
judgment,  and  mercy,  and  faith  was  a  shameful  thing.  But 
the  perfect  teacher  put  each  in  its  proper  place.  "  These," 
He  says,  "ye  ought  to  have  done,  and  not  to  leave  the  other 
undone."  (Matt.  23:  23.)  The  Messianic  Kingdom  would 
be  incomplete  if  that  good  which  the  pious  Jew  anticipated, 


180  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

a  glorious  kingdom  on  earth,  were  left  out,  as,  thank  God, 
it  will  not  be. 

The  lofty  eyes  that  overlook  all  physical  good  are  less 
broad  in  their  scope  than  the  eyes  that  look  above  and 
below  and  around,  beholding  all.  Not  that  seeing  part 
is  seeing  falsely — it  is  seeing  partially.  Arraigning  one 
that  sees  other  parts  is  judging  falsely.  Many  a  visitor 
has  ascended  the  slope  of  Mt.  Washington,  drawn  by  the 
snorting  iron  horse  whose  neighings  echoed  back  from  cliff 
and  ravine,  and  has  seen  that  rugged,  rock-crowned  summit 
gray  with  the  mosses  and  lichens  of  unnumbered  centuries, 
as  the  misty  robe  that  draped  the  giant  peak  was  lifted  by 
the  careering  winds.  He  has  a  right  to  speak  of  the  sub- 
lime view  which  he  has  seen.  But  he  has  made  only  one 
ascent;  he  has  looked  from  one  position  only,  although  a 
favored  spot  it  may  be,  and  one  that  affords  the  finest  view 
of  the  monarch  of  New  England  hills.  But  if  he  forgets 
or  ignores  the  farriage  road  up  from  the  Glen  House;  if 
he  overlooks  the  bridle-path  that  winds  up  through  the 
wooded  hills  and  bending  valleys  and  steep,  precipitous 
acclivities  from  the  Crawford ;  if  he  counts  not  the  devious 
foot-way  of  the  lone  pedestrian  who,  by  some  hitherto 
untrodden  course,  has  clambered  to  the  crown  of  the  moun- 
tain king,  he  has  not  a  complete  picture  of  the  loftiest  of 
the  White  Hills.  The  modern  theologian  who,  conceiving 
the  Kingdom  of  Jesus,  looks  upward  and  views  the  blue  sky 
and  gold  and  crimson  clouds,  and  the  brightness  of  the 
resplendent  sun,  has  a  charming  picture,  even  if  it  be  a  little 
etherial.  But  to  complete  its  beauty  he  needs  the  hills  and 
valleys,  flowing  as  of  old  in  the  land  of  Canaan,  with  milk 
and  honey,  the  palace  towers  of  Jerusalem  the  golden,  the 
white-robed  company  marching  with  crowns  on  their  heads 
and  with  palms  in  their  hands  to  strains  of  celestial  music, 
the  opening  doors  of  the  royal  mansion  and  the  broad  table 


THE  KFXGDOM  AND  THE  CHURCH.  181 

spread  with  ambrosial  viands,  fit  for  the  children  and  the 
brothers  and  sisters  of  a  king,  and  the  seated  guests,  the 
patriarchs  and  prophets,  and  all  the  godly  race.  No  timid- 
ity induced  by  skepticism  within  the  nominal  Church  of 
God,  or  without,  shall  make  me  minish  aught  of  what  my 
Father's  legacy  warrants  me  to  expect.  I  shall  see  the  King 
in  His  glory,  and  be  fellow  heir  with  Abraham.  In  com- 
pany with  the  meek  I  shall  possess  the  earth.  An  humble 
and  unworthy  brother  of  Jesus  Christ,  I  am  to  have  the 
body  of  my  humiliation  made  like  the  body  of  His  glory. 

A    KINGDOM    OF    THIS    WORLD. 

If  there  were  but  a  single  Old  Testament  prophecy  of 
this  kingdom,  one  made  definite  by  passing  from  its  picture 
form  in  which  it  was  at  first  given  to  the  great  King  of 
Babylon,  and  afterward  to  that  prince  among  the  seers, 
Daniel,  of  the  Children  of  the  Captivity,  it  would  establish 
on  a  foundation,  not  to  be  shaken,  the  doctrine  of  the  king- 
dom, a  kingdom  in  this  world,  a  kingdom  embracing  the 
globe  and  to  be  possessed  by  the  saints.  A  king,  a  realm, 
a  multitude  of  subjects  are  requisite  to  a  kingdom  in  the 
strict  sense.  I  give  the  outline.  Nebuchadnezzar  dreams 
a  dream.  It  troubles  him.  He  wishes  to  know  its  signifi- 
cation, but  before  he  can  state  it  to  his  magicians  and 
astrologers  and  sorcerers,  and  to  the  Chaldeans,  it  escapes  his 
memory.  He  requires  these  men  to  tell  the  dream  and  its 
interpretation.  With  good  reason  they  reply  to  this  strange 
demand,  that  the  requirement  is  beyond  human  power.  In 
anoer  the  monarch  gives  orders  that  all  the  wise  men  of 
the  kingdom  be  slain.  As  one  of  them,  Daniel  is  threat- 
ened by  the  decree.  H«  seeks  the  King  and  asks  time, 
giving  assurance  that  both  dream  and  interpretation  will 
be  given.  God  reveals  the  dream  to  the  prophet,  and  he, 
acknowledging  the  Most  High  as  the  source  of  his  wisdom, 


182  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

states  before  the  King  the  dream  and  its  signification.  In 
the  dream  is  seen  a  great  image  of  gold  and  silver  and 
copper  and  iron  and  clay.  A  stone  cut  out  of  a  moun- 
tain without  hands  smites  the  image  upon  the  feet.  The 
shock  pulverizes  the  image,  and  the  dust  is  carried  away  by 
the  wind,  like  chaff  blown  from  the  summer  threshing- 
floor.  The  stone  becomes  a  mountain  and  fills  the  earth. 
In  telling  the  meaning  of  the  dream  Daniel  declares  that 
the  different  parts  of  the  image  represent  successive  king- 
doms, the  four  metals  and  the  clay  signifying  the  strength, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  weakness  of  the  last  of  the  four 
sovereignties.  Daniel  closes  his  interpretation  with  these 
remarkable  words: 

"And  in  the  days  of  these  kings,  shall  the  God  of  Heaven  set  up  a 
Kingdom  which  shall  never  (to  eternity  shall  not)  be  destroyed,  and  the 
Kingdom  shall  not  be  left  (transferred)  to  other  people,  but  it  shall 
break  in  pieces  and  consume  (grind  up  and  make  an  end  of)  all  these 
Kingdoms,  and  it  shall  stand  forever.  Forasmuch  as  thou  sawest  that 
the  stone  was  cut  out  of  the  mountain  without  hands,  and  that  it  brake 
in  pieces  the  iron,  the  copper,  the  clay,  the  silver  and  the  gold ;  the 
great  God  hath  made  known  what  shall  come  to  pass  hereafter,  and  the 
dream  is  certain,  and  the  interpretation  thereof  sure,"  or  trustworthy, 
rendered  "  faithful "  in  Dan.  6 :  4. 

The  prophet  declares  to  the  king  that  God  has  made 
known  to  him  (not  that  something  shall  come  to  pass,  but) 
what  shall  come  to  pass.  A  parallel  to  this  dream  picture 
and  its  simple  prophetic  meaning  is  given  us  in  the  first 
book  of  the  Bible.  Pharaoh  dreams  of  seven  fat  and 
of  seven  very  lean  kine  that  come  up  out  of  the  great  river 
of  Egypt.  The  lean  kine,  after  devouring  the  fat  kine,  are 
still  as  lean  as  before.  In  his  perplexity  Pharaoh  summons 
Joseph,  the  Jewish  captive,  who  at  once  interprets  the 
dream.  The  seven  fat  kine  mean  seven  years  of  great 
plenty.  The  seven  lean  kine,  seven  following  years  of  very 
grievous  famine,  which  shall  exhaust  the  abundance  of  the 
years  of  plenty,  and  leave  the  people  greatly  straitened 


THE  KINGDOM  AND  THE  CHURCH.       183 

by  want.  One  advantage  is  found  here.  The  history  in 
which  the  prophecy  is  fulfilled  is  recorded,  and  no  com- 
pleter  evidence  could  be  given  that  the  prophetic  meaning 
given  to  the  dream  was  in  the  strictest  and  most  literal 
sense  of  the  words  realized.  Any  intelligent  grammar- 
school-boy  could  understand  Joseph's  interpretation,  and 
could  understand  that  the  succeeding  history  records  the 
fulfillment  of  what  Joseph  foretold,  what  Pharaoh  under- 
stood; and  therefore  appointed  Joseph  to  superintend  the 
storing  of  the  abundance  of  the  years  of  plenty  to  provide 
for  the  corning  famine. 

Just  so  the  interpretation  given  by  Daniel  to  Nebuchad- 
nezzar. It  avails  not  to  say  the  passage  occurs  in  a  confess- 
edly obscure  and  difficult  book — this  part  of  the  book  is  no 
more  obscure  than  the  following  chapter  which  tells  of  the 
image  of  gold  set  up  on  the  Plain  of  Dura,  and  of  the 
.three  Hebrew  children  thrown  into  the  fiery  furnace. 
Nebuchadnezzar's  dream,  like  that  of  Pharoah,  was  a  pic- 
ture prophecy,  and  without  a  key  could  not  be  understood, 
could  not  be  explained.  The  God  of  Heaven  gives  the 
dream  and  the  key  to  its  meaning  to  Daniel,  and  Daniel 
gives  them  to  the  King.  If  the  King  understood  what 
kingdom  meant  when  applied  to  his  own  empire  and  sov- 
ereignty, he  understood  what  it  meant  when  applied  to  the 
Kingdom  that  the  God  of  Heaven  should  set  up.  To 
maintain  that  Kingdom,  as  used  in  the  latter  case,  meant 
an  entirely  different  thing,  is  as  worthy  the  charge  of  ter- 
giversation, as  assigning  different  meanings  to  aionios  in 
the  last  verse  of  the  25th  chapter  of  Matthew  is,  "  These 
shall  go  away  into  everlasting  punishment,  but  the  right- 
eous into  life  eternal."  It  has  been  pressed  with  great 
force  that  the  word  must  be  parallel  in  duration  in  each 
case.  Let  those  who  denounce  the  denial  of  this  claim 
.abide  by  their  own  rule  in  this  second  chapter  of  Daniel, 


184  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

The  implication  in  the  interpretation,  and  this  has  been 
generally  admitted  by  commentators,  is,  that  these  great 
empires  represent  universal  world  empires,  each  successive 
one  merging  its  predecessor  in  its  own  sovereignty. 

With  even  greater  force,  the  explanation  of  Daniel 
implies  the  forcible  reduction  of  all  other  political  power 
to  nothing,  and  the  occupation  of  absolutely  universal  world 
dominion.  Albert  Barnes,  in  his  notes  on  Daniel,  remarks, 
here:  "The  language  would  seem  to  imply  some  violent 
action;  some  positive  crushing  force,  something  like  that 
which  occurs  in  conquests  when  nations  are  subdued." 
This  is  evident,  even  in  a  close  translation.  Adam  Clarke 
uses  even  stronger  language.  "  Here  He  (Christ)  is  repre- 
sented under  the  notion  of  a  stone  projected  from  a  cata- 
pult, or  some  military  engine,  which  smote  the  image  on 
its  feet,  that  is,  it  smote  the  then  existing  government  at 
its  foundation,  or  principles  of  support,  and  by  destroying 
these,  brought  the  whole  into  ruin."  It  is  true  that,  with 
astonishing  incongruity,  the  stone  from  the  catapult  is 
made  to  smite  Constantine  into  a  Christian.  (The dust  ha& 
surely  blown  away  very  slowly.)  It  is  still  smiting  by  the 
circulation  of  the  Bible  and  by  missionary  societies.  Gen- 
tle crushing  this!  Exceedingly  gradual  pulverizing!  Most 
tender  breaking  in  pieces,  consuming  slower  than  the  con- 
suming of  iron  rust!  "  Britain,"  writes  the  venerable, 
charming,  but  most  inconsequent  commentator,  "  is  Chris- 
tian without  the  altering  of  her  Magna  Charta  or  her  Con- 
stitution," and  I  might  add  (if  it  did  not  shade  on  sacri- 
lege in  such  a  connection)  without  diminishing  aught  of  her 
rapacity  in  the  expansion  of  her  vast  domain,  without  lift- 
ing her  heavy  heel  from  the  necks  of  subject  or  intimidated 
nations.  Alas  for  my  ideal,  if  even  England,  in  this  year 
of  grace,  1878,  is,  or  typin'es,  the  Kingdom  of  God! 

It  can  not  be!     There  is  to  be — it  has  not  yet  come — 


THE  KINGDOM  AND  THE  CHURCH. 


breaking  with  a  rod  of  iron  —  shivering  to  pieces  as  a  pot- 
ter's vessel  is  shivered.  The  clang  of  the  stone  striking  the 
feet  of  the  huge  image  has  not  yet  been  heard  ;  the  crumbling 
of  dynasties  and  the  sweeping  away  of  their  debris  as  with 
the  breath  of  a  tempest  has  not  yet  been  seen.  But  it 
approacheth!  When  the  history,  whether  it  be  seen  but 
not  written,  or  seen  and  then  written,  shall  transpire,  there* 
will  not  be  need  of  1,550  years  to  know  whether  the  crushing 
stroke  from  the  catapult  missile  has  smitten  temporal 
thrones  out  of  existence.  He  who  witnesses  the  downward 
sweep  of  that  stone  cut  out  of  the  mountain,  will  hear  the 
last  cry  of  human  woe  under  human  oppression  before  its 
shivering  shock  takes  place,  and  see  every  shackle  that 
human  greed  has  forged  and  locked  on  the  limbs  of  cringing 
slaves  shattered  forever  under  the  earthquake  convulsion  of 
that  approaching  hour.  Thereafter,  under  the  sway  of  the 
Son  of  God,  will  the  gates  of  commerce  be  forced  by  the 
enginery  of  war  to  thrust  into  a  resisting  nation's  throat 
and  against  a  monarch's  loud  protest  a  drug  that  dwarfs 
and  poisons  the  body  and  degrades  the  soul?  Will  liquor- 
leagues  control  legislators  and  bribe  judges,  after  a  mightier 
bolt  than  Yulcan  ever  forged  or  Jove  ever  brandished  shall 
have  been  hurled  ?  Reason  answers  No  ;  and  prophecy,  from 
the  shores  of  the  Euphrates,  thunders  down  along  the  cen- 
turies, over  crumbling  dynasties  and  regal  dust,  an  author- 
itative No.  Christ's  Kingdom  established,  iniquity  can  not 
triumph  ! 

Objections  have  been  filed  against  this  view  of  the 
Kingdom.  Some  are  entitled  to  consideration  more  from 
the  position  and  real  ability  of  those  who  offer  them,  than 
for  any  Bible  support  that  has  ever  been  found  or  even 
offered  for  them. 


SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


HAS  CHRIST'S  KINGDOM  COME? 

It  is  maintained  that  Christ's  visible  Kingdom  has  come, 
that  it  is  already  established.  "  The  Christian  Church  is  the 
kingdom  of  God  on  earth  viewed  in  its  objective  or  institu- 
tional form.  God's  Kingdom  among  men  is  as  old  as  human 
history."  —  Dr.  William  F.  Warren,  President  of  Boston 
University.  If  this  bold  statement  be  true,  was  John  the 
Baptist  mistaken  when  he  declared  to  the  thronging  multi- 
tudes, from  Judea  and  Jerusalem  and  the  region  around 
about  Jordan,  "  The  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  at  hand?" 
Was  Joseph,  of  Arimathea,  wrong  in  waiting  for  the  King- 
dom of  God?  He  was  a  good  man,  and  doubtless  shared 
in  the  common  earnest  looking  for  and  expecting  of  the 
Kingdom.  Had  no  Apostle,  had  no  word  from  the  Son  of 
Man,  enlightened  his  darkness?  When  the  robber  on  the 
•cross  with  some  apparent  apprehension  of  Christ  and  His 
character,  cried:  "  Lord,  remember  me  when  thou  comest  in 
Thy  kingdom"  was  he  altogether  mistaken  in  deeming 
that,  a  time  to  come,  instead  of  a  time  gone  by?  And  He 
who  was  addressed  by  the  penitent  man  knew  the  fact,  if 
the  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth  was  already  four  thousand 
years  old  and  commencing  on  the  fifth,  might  we  not  sup- 
pose He  would  have  thrown  a  ray  of  light  along  with  the 
word  of  comfort,  and  have  said:  "  We  are  in  my  Kingdom 
now,  but  I  can  Bay  even  a  better  thing  to  thee;  to-day  shalt 
thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise"  Doubtless,  it  would  have 
seemed  strange  to  this  man,  who  unquestionably  knew  the 
-conditions  of  authority  and  rule  among  men,  to  hear  Christ 
speak  as  a  King  in  His  own  established  Kingdom,  while  He 
hung  upon  the  cross  as  a  malefactor  with  these  two  acknowl- 
edged law-breakers.  Was  Paul  wrong  when  lie  declared, 
"  Flesh  and  blood  can  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God, 
neither  doth  corruption  inherit  incorruption?"  He  spoke 


THE  KINGDOM  AND  THE  CHURCH.  1«7 

as  if  the  Kingdom   of  God  was  immutable,  and  as  if  the 
mortal  and  perishable  could  not  enter  into  it. 

Even  against  Dr.  AVarren,  I  judge,  that  John  and  Joseph 
and  the  robber  on  the  cross  and  Paul  were  right,  and  that  the 
Kingdom  of  God  in  the  New  Testament  sense  had  not 
then,  at  least,  come.  Even  a  higher  than  Paul  had  taught 
his  disciples  to  pray;  u Thy  Kingdom  come,  Thy  will  be 
done  on  earth  as  it  is  done  in  Reaven.  "  Thy  Kingdom  "  was 
God's  Kingdom.  If  the  Kingdom  was  as  old  as  the  race 
the  prayer  seems  .a  paradox  more  striking  than  any  Paul 
ever  uttered.  If  the  Doctor  should  say,  "  God  is  a  Uni- 
versal Sovereign  and  is  ruler  over  the  earth/'  and  confirm 
the  utterance  by  the  sublime  declaration  of  the  Psalmist, 
"  the  Lord  hath  prepared  His  throne  in  the  heavens  and 
His  Kingdom  ruleth  overall,"  (Ps.  103:  19)  or  "  Thy  King- 
dom is  an  everlasting  Kingdom,  and  Thy  dominion  through- 
out all  generations,'''  (Ps.  145:  13)  it  would  be  legitimate  to 
inquire,  is  the  kingdom  of  which  the  Psalmist  speaks  and 
the  dominion  associated  with  it,  the  Church? — to  which  I 
trow,  the  answer  must  be  "Nay."  The  dominion  of  the 
everlasting  God  and  His  Kingdom  in  the  sense  of  the 
Psalmist  is  not  merely  as  old  as  human  history,  but  as  old 
as  creation  itself,  and  antedates  the  day  when  "the  morning 
stars  sang  together  and  all  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for 

joy." 

Is  the  Christian  Church,  or  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  its 
objective  form  as  old  as  human  history?  Dr.  Charles 
Hodge,  clerum  et  venerabile  nomen,  seems  to  range  with 
the  Boston  theologian.  In  his  magnificent  work  he  writes: 
"  The  Church  under  the  new  dispensation  is  identical  with 
that  under  the  old.  It  is  not  a  new  church  but  one  and 
the  same  "  (as  the  old).  Speculative  philosophy  and  theology 
build  slightly  and  lofty  structures,  but  the  artillery  of  the 
word  of  God  like  a  mighty  Krupp  gun  turned  against  the 


188  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

marble  walls  of  some  imposing  palace  built  for  beauty  rather 
than  for  strength — at  one  discharge  levels  the  lofty  walls  and 
leaves  the  building  a  ruin.  Christ  addresses  the  fisherman 
Simon  thus :  "  Thou  art  Peter,  and  on  this  rock  I  will  build 
my  church,  and  the  gates  of  Hades  shall  not  prevail  against 
it."  At  that  moment  in  the  ministry  of  Christ  His  Church 
was  a  thing  of  the  future.  The  "  1  will  build  "  is  in  the 
same  tense  as  "  shall  not  prevail."  We  can  as  easily 
imagine  the  latter  a  retrospective  declaration  as  the  former. 
"  I  will  build."  How  the  fragments  of  massive  theories  rat- 
tle before  this  divine  artillery.  Good,  and  wise,  and 
learned  men  concur  in  a  better  exegesis  that  the  church  was 
yet  future,  when  Christ  spoke;  Dr.  Philip  Schaff  (we  thank 
the  Fatherland  for  such  a  gift)  in  his  catechism  puts  and 
answers  this  question:  "  Who  founded  the  Christian 
Church?  Our  exalted  Saviour,  on  the  fiftieth  day  after 
His  resurrection,  by  the  out-pouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
upon  His  Disciples  in  Jerusalem"  References:  Matt.  16: 
13;  1  Cor.  3:  11;  Eph.  2:  20;  Acts  2:  1-11.  See  p.  52. 

In  his  exposition  on  Matt.  18:  17,  Richard  Watson  says: 
"  The  apostles  who  followed  Christ  may  be  considered  as 
the  elements  of  His  church  at  the  time,  but  it  could  scarce 
be  considered  as  constituted  until  after  the  day  of  Pentecost 
when  regular  assemblies  under  Apostolic  direction  were 
formed,  the  worship  of  God  arranged,  the  Supper  of  the 
Lord  administered,  and  the  terms  of  communion  mutually 
acknowledged.  Christ  must,  therefore,  be  understood  as 
speaking  prospectively."  In  harmony  with  these  state- 
ments of  representative  men,  has  been  the  general  language 
of  the  Christian  world,  always  excepting  the  cases  where 
controversy  springs  up  and  a  new  vocabulary  is  made  to 
suit  the  emergency. 

Wo  speak  of  the  early  Christian  Church.  What  do  we 
mean?  Who  goes  back  to  th«  times  of  Abraham,  to 


THE  KINGDOM  AND  THE  CHURCH.       189 

the  times  of  Moses,  to  the  times  of  David,  or  to  the 
times  of  Malachi?  I  challenge  the  production  of  a  case 
free  from  the  bias  of  controlling  theories  where  men- 
tion of  the  early  Christian  Church  requires  to  be 
referred  to  the  Mosaic  period  or  earlier.  What  have 
Christian  men  in  the  Christian  Church  meant  by  it?  The 
church  of  the  days  of  the  apostles — that — nothing  earlier. 
As  reasonably  may  we  call  the  prophets  the  apostles,  or  the 
great  Jewish  Lawgiver  the  founder  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 
The  position  that  the  visible  Kingdom  of  God  is  already 
established  and  is  the  Christian  Church,  is  so  prevalent 
to-day  that  I  shall  be  pardoned,  I  am  sure,  if  I  submit  the 
claim  to  a  sharp  scrutiny. 

I  say,  then,  that  no  more  absolute  separation  of  kingdom 
and  church  could  be  made,  without  labored  effort,  than  is 
already  made  in  the  New  Testament  by  the  terms  employed 
in  representing  each.  The  word  used  by  Christ  to  indicate 
the  origination  of  His  church  is  olitodofilo  as  follows: 
oiKtrfoufao  pav  rrfv  e/ocA^'av.  This  word,  although  it  is  found 
twenty-four  times  in  the  New  Testament,  is  never 
once  joined  with  paaifaia  a  word  occurring  about 
ninety  times  in  the  Gospels  alone,  in  connection  with  the 
expressions,  "  the  Kingdom  of  God,"  "  The  Kingdom  of 
Heaven."  If  the  visible  kingdom  is  built  at  all,  its  building 
is  not  indicated  by  the  word  that  indicates  the  building  of 
the  church.  The  word  used  in  the  Septuagint  to  express 
the  origin  or  establishment  of  this  kingdom  mentioned  by 
Daniel  is  dvaar^,  from  avfaniw  well  rendered  by  "set 
up,"  or  "raise  up."  On  the  other  hand,  this  word,  applied 
to  the  kingdom,  is  never  used  of  either  the  rise  or  progress 
of  the  church,  or  of  the  church  at  all.  It  is  worthy  of 
notice  in  this  connection  that  the  majority  of  the  modern 
words  and  phrases  used  to  harmonize  the  idea  of  the  identity 
of  the  church  and  the  kingdom  do  not  dovetail  at  all  with 


190  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

the  Scripture  words  and  phrases.  I  quote  the  following 
from  a  New  York  contributor  to  a  New  England  periodical, 
the  Ziorts  Herald:  "To  all  who  love  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ,  and  pray  for  its  world-wide  extension,  the  progress 
of  the  resurgent  Greek  Nation  is  full  of  interest."  Praying 
for  the  world-wide  extension  of  Christ's  Kingdom,  or  for  its 
extension  in  a  less  degree,  is  altogether  foreign  to  the  lan- 
guage and  thought  of  the  Scriptures.  The  stone  was  cut 
out  of  the  mountain  without  human  influence,  it  rolled 
down  from  the  mountain  without  human  assistance  and  it 
filled  the  earth  so  far  as  the  symbolism  gives  us  any  light, 
without  human  aid,  and  purely  by  an  invisible  and  resistless 
power. 

The  Rev.  Jas.  Freeman  Clarke,  a  cultivated  and  vigorous 
thinker,  embodies  a  kindred  thought  in  this  fragment: 
"  All  who  desire  to  work  with  us  in  advancing  the  Kingdom 
of  God."  If  I  had  the  ear  of  the  distinguished  divine,  I 
should  feel  as  free  to  say  to  him  as  to  the  Herald  corres- 
pondent, "Dear  sir,  your  language  does  not  tally  with  Bible 
thought."  I  pronounce  these  words,  and  all  like  them, 
exotic  both  in  thought  and  expression  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment language  and  ideas.  The  recognized  relationship  in 
the  New  Testament  of  godly  men  and  women  of  the  church 
is  altogether  different  from  their  relationship  to  the  king- 
dom. "  Phoebe,  a  servant  of  the  church  at  Cenchrea."  (Kom. 
16: 1.)  "  The  messengers  of  the  churches."  (2  Cor.  8:  23.) 
"The  elders  of  the  church."  (Jas.  5: 14.)  No  such  classes 
or  individuals  under  such  names  are  ever  mentioned  as 
engaged  in  the  kingdom.  On  the  other  hand  we  have 
mention  made  of  heirs  of  the  kingdom,  but  no  apostle  ever 
penned,  no  evangelist  ever  suggested  "  heirs  of  the  church?' 
The  mode  of  becoming  a  member  of  a  church  would  seem 
nowadays,  at  least,  to  allow  the  expression,  "enter  into  the 
church."  But  not  a  solitary  instance  can  be  found  in  the 


THE  KINGDOM  AND  THE  CHURCH.        191 

New  Testament  where  this  familiar  modern  phrase  is  so 
employed,  although  the  word  church  occurs  in  our  English 
version  112  times,  and  its  Greek  equivalent  about  115 
times.  But  in  the  Gospels  "Enter  into  the  Kingdom"  is 
found  ten  times,  half  of  them  future,  as  shown  by  the  tense 
of  the  verb,  and  the  rest  indefinite;  not  one  case  occurring 
in  which  any  one  is  mentioned  as  having  entered  into  the 
Kingdom  of  God. 

CONTRASTS    BETWEEN    CHURCH    AND    KINGDOM. 

To  "  see  the  Kingdom  of  God  "  is  spoken  of  as  a  privilege 
in  the  Gospel.  But  an  important  prerequisite  to  the  privi- 
lege is  named  by  Christ  himself:  "Except  a  man  be  born 
from  above  he  can  not  see  the  Kingdom  of  God."  (John* 
chap.  3.)  Ananias  and  Sapphira  found  their  way  into 
the  early  Christian  Church,  as  we  have  every  reason  to 
believe,  without  a  spiritual  regeneration.  Not  born  from 
above,  they  saw  the  church.  To  one  who  for  the  first  time 
carefully  examines,  in  a  good  Concordance,  the  contrasts 
and  the  correspondence  between  the  Church  and  Kingdom,  I 
venture  to  predict  some  feeling  of  surprise,  and  a  convic- 
tion that  these  words  are  further  separated  there  than  in 
ordinary  parlance.  The  Kingdom  a  unit;  the  Church  an 
aggregate  of  churches;  the  Kingdom  of  God,  the  Kingdom 
of  Christ,  is  never  once  used  in  the  plural.  Wherever 
"  Kingdoms  "  is  found  reference  is  made  to  the  Kingdoms  of 
this  World,  always  recognized  as  transient.  The  churches  is 
a  common  New  Testament  expression.  Luke  writes:  "  Then 
had  the  churches  rest."  (Acts  9:  31.)  Paul  sends  thanks  to 
u  all  the  churches  of  the  Gentiles."  (Rom.  16:  4),  and  writes 
to  the  brethren  at  Rome,  "  The  churches  of  Christ  salute 
you."  (Rom.  16:  16.)  He  refers  in  his  letter  to  the  Cor- 
inthians to  "the  church  of  Asia."  (1  Cor.  16:19,  and 
also  to  "the  churches  of  Macedonia."  (2  Cor.  8: 1.)  In 
the  epistle  to  the  Galatians  he  mentions  the  churches  of 


192  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

Galatia,  and  also  of  Judea.  (Gal.  1:  2-22),  and  in  one  of 
his  earliest  letters  speaks  of  "  the  churches  of  God."  (2 
Thesss.,  1:4.)  The  Kevelator  designates  the  church  of 
Ephesus,  the  church  in  Smyrna,  in  Pergamos,  in  Sardis,  in 
Thyatira,  showing  that  churches  were  local.  The  Kingdom 
embraces  the  whole  earth,  and  hence  so  far  as  the  world  or 
man  is  concerned,  is  universal.  Common  usage  here 
accords  with  Scripture  usage.  We  are  wont  to  say:  The 
Episcopal  Church;  the  Lutheran  Church;  the  Presbyterian 
Church;  the  Keformed  Church;  the  Greek  Church;  the 
Catholic  Church;  and  I  suppose  we  properly  say  Congre- 
gational Churches,  and  Baptist  Churches  and  Unitarian 
Churches.  But  does  any  one  venture  to  speak  of  the 
Methodist  Kingdom,  or  the  Lutheran  Kingdom.  Do  we 
ever  say  Kingdoms  of  Christ,  Kingdoms  of  God?  Many 
of  the  best  thinkers  and  profoundest  scholars  of  the  age 
incline  to  the  position  that  the  radical  meaning  of  kKKhioia, 
limits  it  to  a  single  thing,  and  that  the  comprehensive 
sense  is  a  figurative  one. 

Dr.  Christian  Frederic  Kling,  in  his  commentary  on 
Corinthians,  which  is  a  part  of  Lange's  great  work,  gives 
us  what  is  requisite  to  constitute  a  true  church  thus:  1. 
"  An  assemblage  before  God  and  for  God."  2.  "  It  consists 
of  those  who  are  consecrated  to  God  in  Jesus  Christ."  3. 
"  It  is  thus  consecrated  through  the  mighty  creative  will  of 
God."  4.  "  Its  members  are  such  as  call  upon  the  name  of 
Jesus  Christ."  "These  things  may  exist  in  connection 
with  many  glaring  faults  in  true  professing  believers,  and 
with  many  false  professions  (articles?)  of  faith,  which  yet 
do  not  necessarily  vitiate  the  claim  to  be  called  a  true 
church  of  God."  Many  among  the  masses  escape  some 
at  least  of  the  errors  of  clerical  theorizers.  Few,  perhaps, 
of  the  common  people  identify  the  Church  and  the  King- 
dom. They  speak  of  their  becoming  united  with  the  church 


THE  KINGDOM  AND  THE  CHURCH.       193 

as  a  thing  of  the  past,  but  they  talk  about  their  entrance 
into  the  Kingdom  as  a  thing  of  the  future. 

I  recall  in  my  ministry  an  excellent  English  brother,  an 
unlettered  man,  hardly  able  to  read,  but  a  man  whose  good 
sense  and  fluent,  admirable  use  of  quaint  Anglo-Saxon, 
always  interested  and  often  amazed  me.  Many  a  time  have 
I  been  astonished  at  his  marvellous  combinations  of  strong 
expressive  monosyllables,  from  ten  to  twenty  in  number, 
with  scarcely  a  dissyllable  among  them,  perhaps  not  a  single 
one.  He  used  to  say:  "  I  mean  by  the  grace  of  God  to 
find  a  home  in  the  Kingdom."  He  was  right.  To  him 
it  is  a  thing  of  the  future.  I  sincerely  trust  that  he  will 
at  least  realize  his  aim  and  join  the  ransomed  host  in  the 
Kingdom  of  our  God.  But  he  had  been  in  the  church 
forty  years.  The  Kingdom  is  everlasting,  the  church  tem- 
porary. If,  as  has  been  maintained  and  we  think  proved, 
the  Kingdom  is  an  end,  as  such  it  is  to  the  everlasting. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  church,  as  means  to  an  end,  can  not 
be  supposed  to  continue  when  it  has  accomplished  its 
design.  Gabriel  declared  to  Mary  in  reference  to  her  Son: 

"  He  shall  be  great,  and  shall  be  called  the  Son  of  the  Highest,  and 
the  Lord  God  shall  give  unto  Him  the  throne  of  His  Father  David ;  and 
He  shall  reign  over  the  house  of  Jacob  forever,  and  of  His  Kingdom 
there  shall  be  no  end."  (Luke  1 :  32-33.) 

Every  Christian  believer  admits  that  the  first  part  of  the 
prediction  is  literally  true.  He  is  great.  He  has  been,  and 
is  now,  throughout  Christendom,  called  the  Son  of  the 
Highest  by  all  who  accept  the  testimony  of  the  Scriptures 
as  trustworthy.  It  is  conceded,  also,  that  of  His  King- 
dom, in  the  strictest  and  most  literal  sense,  there  shall  be 
no  end.  Is  it  legitimate  to  pare  the  prophecy  all  around, 
and  insist  that  the  part  thus  taken  off  is  strictly  literal, 
and  then  demand  that  the  very  heart  of  the  prediction  be 
made  figurative,  or  rather  mystical,  or,  if  figurative,  in  a 
13 


194  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

figure  refusing  analysis  and  leaving  one  utterly  at  loss  for 
its  real  meaning?  Not  quite  1  Language  has  rights  that 
intelligent  men  are  bound  to  respect.  Thomas  Huxley 
never  threw  out  a  more  biting  satire  than  when  he  took 
Milton's  idea  of  the  creation  as  unfolded  in  Paradise  Lost. 
He  did  not  take  the  statement  of  Mo&es,  because  he  well 
knew  that  there  would  be  a  dozen  modifications  of  the  lan- 
guage of  Moses  to  prepare  it  for  the  exigency.  The  hit  at 
this  protean  flexibility  of  Genesis  and  the  recognized  inflex- 
ibility of  the  Paradise  Lost  was  a  severe  thrust  with  a  sharp 
rapier.  When  we  render  the  laws  of  language  in  the  Bible 
as  we  do  in  Virgil  or  in  Horace  or  in  Plato  or  in  Homer, 
there  will  be  a  reasonable  ground  for  anticipating  some- 
thing like  unanimity  on  the  interpretation  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. While  we  abuse  the  Hebrew  of  the  Old  and  the 
Greek  of  the  New  Testament,  there  ought  to  be,  and  I  trust 
there  will  be,  differences.  Peter  confirms  the  words  of 
Gabriel  in  regard  to  the  duration  of  the  Kingdom:  "  The 
everlasting  Kingdom  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ/' — 2  Pet. 
1:11.  The  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  in  like 
manner,  speaks  of  the  promise  of  eternal  inheritance. — Heb. 
9:15.  That  figures  do  not  enter  at  all  into  these  precious 
promises  could  probably  not  be  claimed  by  any.  But  many 
figures  do  not  change  the  general  direction  of  a  statement 
A  throne  is  often  used  by  metonomy  to  represent  regal 
authority  and  dominion.  But  if  the  throne  of  England 
be  named,  it  can  not  be  the  regal  authority  and  dominion 
of  Russia  that  is  signified  thereby;  it  must  be  the  authority 
and  dominion  of  England.  The  throne  of  David  may  be 
a  metonomy  denoting  the  royal  rule  and  domain  of  David, 
but  it  can  not  mean  empire  on  which  mortal  eye  never 
gazed,  or  be  in  some  remote  world  of  which  human 
imagination  has  but  dimly  conceived.  When  God  prom- 
ised to  deliver  Judah  into  the  hands  of  Nebuchadnezzar 


THE  KINGDOM  AND  THE  CHURCH.  1<J5 

we  may  admit  that  "hands  "  is  not  to  be  taken  with  strict 
literalness,  but  granting  that  hands  is  but  a  metonomy  for 
power,  it  is  the  power  of  Nebuchadnezzar  that  must  be 
intended.  If  it  be  said  that  "  the  Church  triumphant"  is 
everlasting,  it  may  be  conceded  that  if  persons  wish  to  use 
a  neat  phrase  and  assign  a  certain  meaning  to  it,  no  one 
need  object.  If,  however,  it  be  claimed  that  the  language 
or  the  thought  has  Bible  sanction,  the  evidence  is  respect- 
fully solicited.  We  may  call  New  York  the  London  of 
America.  There  is  no  good  reason  to  object,  but  the  bright 
lad  that  shouts  "Tribune "  along  the  streets  of  the  great 
metropolis  knows  that  it  is  only  in  a  figurative  sense  that 
New  York  is  London. 

The  proof  that  the  visible  Kingdom  is  contrasted  with  the 
Church  rather  than  identified  with  it,  is  a  great  step  toward 
the  removal  of  the  claim  that  this  Kingdom  is  already  set 
up  in  the  world.  If  it  is  in  the  world  and  is  not  the 
Church,  what  is  it?  Where  is  it  ?  A  fair  answer  to  these 
questions  will  show  that  if  the  Kingdom  be  in  the  world 
at  all,  it  must  be  subjectively  rather  than  objectively — in  a 
spiritual  rather  than  a  literal  sense.  A  few  quotations 
may  help  us:  "For  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  not  food  and 
drink,  but  righteousness,  peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost," 
Rom.  14  :  17,  is  definitely  stated  by  St.  Paul.  None  will 
incline  to  deny  that  righteousness,  peace  and  joy  in  the 
Holy  Ghost  exist  on  earth.  Will  any  maintain  that  this  is 
the  Kingdom  into  which  the  Lord  Jesus  will  bid  His  saints 
enter  after  the  judgment?  Or,  that  this  is  the  Kingdom 
which  Joseph  of  Arimathea  waited  for,  or  that  this  is  the 
throne  of  David  ?  Probably  not. 

Men  do  not  enter  into  righteousness,  peace  and  joy  in 
the  Holy  Ghost.  These  enter  into  them.  Of  this  subjec- 
tive Kingdom,  or  fitness  of  spirit  for  the  objective  Kingdom, 
Christ  could,  indeed,  say  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  within 


196  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

you,  or,  as  the  margin  suggests,  is  among  you.  (Luke  17: 
21.)  One  can  hardly  avoid  querying  how  those  who  are  dis- 
posed to  identify  the  Church  and  the  Kingdom  dispose  of 
these  passages.  They  do  not,  of  course,  hold  that  the 
Church  was  within  those  whom  Christ  addressed,  or  even 
among  them,  except  in  a  figurative  sense.  If  ivroq  be  ren- 
dered within  in  this  passage,  we  must  not  understand  that 
Christ  meant  to  emphasize  "you,"  as  He  addressed  those 
scornful  hearers.  In  no  literal  sense  was  the  Kingdom 
within  them.  It  would  rather  mean,  you  will  now  find  this 
Kingdom  when  you  find  it  not  by  your  methods  of  observa- 
tion, but  within.  But  such  a  case  can  no  more  be  deter- 
minative of  the  general  sense  of  the  term  Kingdom,  than 
can  Christ's  words  to  His  disciples  in  reference  to  Lazarus: 
"  Our  friend  Lazarus  sleepeth ;  but  I  go  that  I  may  awake 
him  out  of  sleep,"  make  the  literal  sense  of  the  word  sleep 
properly  descriptive  of  the  condition  of  their  common 
friend.  When  the  disciples  do  not  understand  the  Saviour, 
He  says  unto  them  plainly,  "Lazarus  is  dead."  Before  He 
had  spoken  figuratively.  So  when  He  said  of  Jairus' 
daughter  :  "The  damsel  is  not  dead,  but  sleepeth  "  (Mark 
5 : 39),  they  laughed  Him  to  scorn.  They  misapprehended 
His  figurative  language. 

LITERAL    MEANING   OF    KINGDOM    AND    CHURCH. 

Without  doubt,  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  the  Oh  arch  are 
in  a  few  cases  used  figuratively,  but  even  then,  one  is  never 
put  for  the  other.  And  these  figurative  uses,  fewer  than 
in  most  words  employed  as  many  times,  can  not  militate 
against  those  cases  which  treat  unmistakably  of  an  objec- 
tive kingdom  in  space  and  time  and  on  earth. 

Another  claim  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  Kingdom  is 
held  by  a  considerable  class.  These  deny  that  the  King- 
dom is  the  Church,  or  that  it  is  or  will  be  on  the  earth. 


THE  KINGDOM  AND  THE  CHURCH.       197 

They  hold  that  it  is  heaven  itself,  and  that  the  righteous 
pass  into  it  at  death.  There  are  fewer  difficulties  in  this 
than  in  the  church -kingdom  hypothesis.  And  yet  it  has 
insuperable  difficulties.  It  completely  reverses  the  terms 
of  that  prayer  which  is  upon  more  lips  every  day  than  all 
other  prayers  together.  "Thy  Kingdom  come,  Thy  will  be 
done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven."  Matt.  6: 10.  These 
theorists  would  need  to  remodel  the  prayer  thus:  "  Let  us 
go  into  Thy  Kingdom  in  heaven,  and  there  do  Thy  will  as 
the  angels  do."  If  this  is  really  the  meaning  of  this  par- 
agraph, which  has  been  repeated  by  thousands  ever  since 
the  early  days  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  by  tens  of  mil- 
lions in  later  times,  we  have  not  yet  learned  the  alphabet 
of  Scripture  truth,  for  who,  soberly  and  thoughtfully,  ever 
inferred  that  this  was  what  Christ  designed  by  this  sen- 
tence? "Thy  Kingdom  come,  Thy  will  be  done  on  earth 
as  it  is  in  heaven."  Alone  it  constitutes  a  sublime  prayer. 
Has  it  been  answered?  If  so,  it  need  not  be  our  prayer 
longer.  In  the  mind  of  the  great  Christian  Church  it  is 
not  yet  answered.  Some  sanguine  souls  are  sure  that  the 
present  economy  of  Christian  work  will  soon  secure  that 
"  consummation  devoutly  to  be  wished."  About  300,000,- 
000  of  the  earth's  1,350,000,000  are  nominally  Christians. 
But  nominal  Christianity  is  not  the  genuine  Christianity. 
A  generous  estimate  of  the  number  of  actual  Christians 
would  not  go  beyond  30,000,000.  And  more  than  eighteen 
centuries  have  been  spent  in  reaching  this.  At  such  a  rate, 
through  how  many  score  of  centuries  is  the  slow  work  to 
dragon?  "  How  long!  Lord,  how  long!  "  The  missionary 
spirit  of  earnest  men  and  women  is  noble.  God  be  thanked 
for  it.  God  bless  it.  But  alas,  this  Christ-like  purpose  of 
theirs  seems  like  a  skiff  urged  up  some  mighty  rapids  and 
scarcely  stemming  the  torrent.  I  heard  Dr.  Macauley  say  in 
Boston,  a  few  years  ago,  that  not  3  per  cent  of  the  working 


198  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

men  of  London  attended  any  church  regularly  on  the 
Lord's  day.  It  is  better  than  that  in  New  York;  but  what 
multitudes  never  enter  a  church  even  here,  and  what  is 
more  to  be  deplored,  what  multitudes  are  as  destitute  of 
religious  teaching  as  if  they  were  in  Central  Africa! 

And  while  a  few  noble  spirits  are  toiling  and  praying  for 
the  success  of  mission  work,  what  profound  apathy  possesses 
the  church  as  a  whole  in  regard  to  this  vast  enterprise!  I 
said  just  now  that  a  generous  estimate  of  the  actual  Chris- 
tians in  the  world  would  not  be  above  thirty  millions. 
What  do  these  do  on  this  line,  counting  to  their  credit  all 
that  is  done  fitfully  and  without  method  and  without  high 
religious  motive  among  the  other  two  hundred  and  ninety 
millions  of  merely  nominal  Christians? 

Do  these  thirty  millions  give  enough  to  make  all  the  gifts 
of  all  the  rest  average  a  cent  a  week  for  the  thirty  millions 
for  mission  effort,  properly  so  called?  Is  there  a  missionary 
secretary  here  to-day  prepared  to  answer  me?  Do  the 
aggregates  of  all  the  missionary  contributions  in  the  world 
amount  to  $15,600,000  per  annum?  Is  the  amount  paid 
over  by  actual  Christians,  that  Christ's  mandate  "Go  ye 
into  all  the  world  and  preach  my  gospel  to  every  creature," 
may  be  obeyed,  as  great  as  is  the  amount  expended  in 
the  Church  of  God  for  needless — nay,  for  dangerous 
and  degrading  luxuries,  such  as  wine,  beer,  tobacco,  and 
even  stronger  stimulants?  God  forbid  that  I  should 
decry  the  zeal  of  the  Church  where  that  zeal  is  great  and 
grand,  but  God  forbid  equally  that  I  should  boast  of  great 
things,  when  in  this  direction,  except  in  a  relativelv  few 
cases,  there  is  nothing  great  to  boast  of.  The  meagreness 
of  missionary  contributions  in  our  own  land  is  a  thing  to 
blush — nay,  to  weep  for. 

And  Christ  will  come  before  it  is  large  enough  to  make 
any  broad-minded,  far-sighted  Christian  contented  with  the 


THE  KINGDOM  AND  THE  CHUHCH.  199 

state  of  the  missionary  treasury.  Some  have  deprecated 
the  proclamation  of  the  imminent  coming  of  the  Son  of 
Man  in  His  kingdom  as  paralyzing  missionary  effort. 
Would  it  enervate  or  stimulate  the  servant  who  had  heard 
and  was  heeding  the  words  of  his  Master,  u  Occupy  till  I 
come,"  to  learn  that  the  Master  was  already  on  His  return 
to  take  account  with  him?  The  danger  lies  always  in  the 
other  direction.  When  men  say  and  believe  that  the  Lord 
"  delayeth  His  coming  "  as  Christ  shows  in  one  of  His  para- 
bles, why  begin  to  eat  and  drink  with  the  drunken,  and  to 
neglect  every  duty  ?  Some  have  been  embarrassed  to 
reconcile  the  text,  "  My  Kingdom  is  not  -of  this  world," 
with  the  doctrine  that  Christ's  Kingdom  is  to  be  in  this 
world.  There  is  no  conflict  between  them.  The  Church 
of  Christ  is  not  of  this  world,  but  it  is  in  the  world.  And 
there  is  not  a  hint  the  church  will  ever  be  transferred 
elsewhere.  Christ  in  that  most  wonderful  prayer  reveals 
glimpses  of  a  life  and  history  prior  to  this,  and  scatters 
light  over  all  the  earth  pathway  of  the  Child  of  God ;  says, 
as  he  prays  for  his  disciples,  "  They  are  not  of  this  world, 
even  as  I  am  not  of  this  world."  Yet  they  and  Christ 
were  in  this  world.  The  declaration  "  If  any  man  love  the 
world  the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him,"  does  not  make 
it  criminal  to  admire  and  love  the  globe  as  the  handiwork 
of  God.  You  and  I  may  as  legitimately  delight  in  the 
wonders  of  hill  and  vale,  of  forest  and  plain,  of  spring  and 
rivulet  as  did  the  Psalmist  in  the  splendors  of  the  firma- 
nent.  Christ's  Kingdom  is  not  to  be  of  the  world  which 
we  may  not  love,  but  is  to  be  on  this  world  which  He 
Himself  made  and  declared  very  good. 

Another  class  of  texts  has  occasioned  trouble  in  the 
minds  of  some.  John  the  Baptist  and  Jesus  declared: 
"  The  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  at  hand."  "  How,"  it  is 
asked  with  some  force  certainly,  "  could  the  Kingdom  be 


200  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

said  to  be  at  hand  then,  if  1,800  years  have  gone,  and  it  i& 
still  not  here?  "  If  the  word  rendered  "  is  at  hand  "  had  been 
rendered  "  draweth  near,"  as  it  is  in  Luke  21:  8,  and  some 
dozen  other  passages,  it  would  have  relieved  the  apparent 
difficulty  somewhat.  If  it  had  been  rendered  "  approach- 
eth,"  that  is  "  approaching,"  as  in  Luke  12:  33,  Hebrew  10: 
25,  the  difficulty  would  have  hardly  appeared  at  all.  Since 
the  same  expression  is  used  of  events  then  expected,  which 
have  not  yet  transpired,  it  shows  that  the  word  may  have 
a  wider  scope  than  we  naturally  give  to  the  first  of  these 
translations.  Paul  says,  in  speaking  to  the  Church  at 
Rome:  "The  night  is  far  spent,  the  day  is  at  hand." 
Eengel,  in  his  note  upon  the  passage,  interprets  thus:  "  The 
day  of  Christ,  the  last  day."  Adam  Clarke  comments  : 
"  Heathenish  darkness  is  nearly  at  an  end."  Dean  Alford 
says:  "The  day  of  the  resurrection."  If  Paul  used  the 
word  understandingly,  either  in  reference  to  the  disappear- 
ance of  heathenism  or  of  the  resurrection  day,  it  is  certain 
that  "  is  at  hand  "  was  1,800  years  distant.  James  uses 
the  definite  expression,  "  the  coming  of  the  Lord  is  at 
hand,"  or,  as  our  translators  have  rendered  it  here,  "  draw- 
eth riigh."  The  meaning  of  the  original  word  is  the  same 
in  both  places.  If  it  be  said  that  James  must  have  meant 
"death  is  at  hand,"  a  just  reply  is:  "No  such  sense  of 
the  phrase  has  ever  been  established,  nor  ever  can  be.  It 
is  in  the  most  positive  conflict  with  the  thought  of  the 
Apostolic  age,  whatever  it  may  be  in  regard  to  the  thought 
and  terminology  of  our  age.  When  Peter  inquired  of  Jesus 
about  John:  "Lord,  what  shall  this  man  do?"  Jesus 
responds:  "If  I  will  that  he  tarry  till  I  come,  what  is 
that  to  thee  ?"  When  the  saying  went  forth  that  that  dis- 
ciple should  not  die,  wherefore  ?  Jesus  had  not  said,  "He 
shall  not  die,"  but,  "What  if  I  will  that  he  tarry  till  I 
come?"  The  inference  in  that  age  was  if  a  man  lived  until 


THE  KINGDOM  AND  THE  CHURCH.       201 

Christ  came  he  would  not  die  at  all.  It  is  in  violation  of 
every  principle  of  interpretation  to  suppose  that  James  could 
mean  "  death  "  by  the  coming  of  the  Lord. 

Notwithstanding  the  drift  away  from  the  directness  and 
simplicity  of  thought  in  those  days,  even  we  have  kept 
something  of  the  idea  that  sprang  up  in  the  minds  of  the 
disciples  when  Jesus  answered  Simon's  question.  Has  it  - 
not  been  the  general  opinion  of  the  Church  through  the 
centuries  even  until  now,  that  those  who  live  until  the 
return  of  Jesus  will  not  pass  through  death?  Peter  in  his 
first  epistle  has  an  expression  if  anything  more  extractable 
than  that  of  James.  He  writes:  "  Ihe  end  of  all  things 
is  at  hand ;  be  ye  sober,  therefore,  and  watch  unto  prayer." 
(1  Pet.  4:7.)  If  I  were  meeting  an  infidel  opponent  he- 
might  consistently  object  that  the  discovery  of  other  cases 
increases  rather  than  relieves  the  difficulty.  He  would 
probably  point  to  each  case  as  an  evidence  of  either  ignor- 
ance or  of  mendacity.  But  we  are  meeting  the  objections 
of  those  who  ask,  "  How  could  it  be  said  that  the  King- 
dom of  Heaven  was  at  hand  when  1,800  years  and  more 
were  to  pass  away  ere  it  came?"  By  quoting  Peter'a 
unmistakable  declaration:  "The  end  of  all  things  is  at 
hand,"  when  we  both  agree  that  in  the  latter  case,  at  least, 
at  hand  was  1,800  years  distant.  We  ought,  indeed,  to 
recollect  that  we  are  little  skilled  in  celestial  arithmetic. 
The  term,  which  applied  to  terrestrial  distances  may  seem 
a  great  measure,  when  applied  to  stellar  distances  may 
appear  very  small.  A  year,  which  is  to  many  a  child  a 
long  period,  and  is  long  enough  for  our  earth  to  journey 
578,000,000  miles,  is  relatively  to  the  vast  reach  of  cen- 
turies that  measures  the  period  of  some  of  the  sextuple 
stars  like  one  vibration  of  a  pendulum  to  a  lifetime.  Let 
me  impress,  if  I  may,  the  fact  that  the  single  rendering  of 
a  Greek  word  oftens  gives  a  very  inadequate  notion  of  it& 


202  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

full  sense.  When  we  read  of  the  raising  of  the  daughter, 
and  use  the  word  damsel  in  reference  to  her,  we  think  of  a 
girl  nearing  the  line  of  early  womanhood.  But  when  we 
read  in  Matthew  18:  2,  of  Jesus  calling  a  little  child  and 
setting  him  in  the  midst,  we  think,  and  it  may  be  rightly, 
of  a  far  younger  child.  The  translation  has  become  a  kind 
of  commentary,  telling  us  that  the  one  person  is  a  miss, 
verging  close  on  womanhood,  while  the  other  is  only  a 
child.  And  in  like  manner  the  oft-quoted  words  of  the 
Saviour,  "  Suffer  the  little  children  to  come  unto  me." 
After  the  resurrection  Jesus  finds  the  disciples  Peter, 
Thomas,  Nathaniel  and  the  two  sons  of  Zebedee  by  the 
lake  shore.  They  had  been  fishing  but  had  caught  nothing. 
Christ  says  to  them,  "  Children,"  or  "  Sirs,"  as  the  margin 
has  it,  "have  ye  any  food?"  (John  21:5.)  Does  it  not  give 
a  little  surprise  when  we  find  out  first,  that  there  is  only 
one  Greek  word  to  stand  for  these  greatly  varying  English 
ones,  damsel,  little  child,  sirs.  The  word  iraidiw  reaches 
from  the  new-born  babe  up  to  the  married  man,  Simon 
Peter. 

The  true  attitude  of  the  Church  must  be  one  of  expec- 
tancy of  the  coming  Kingdom.  In  the  best  days  of  her 
history  such  has  been  her  attitude.  The  fear  of  weakening 
feeble  hands  by  preaching  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is 
drawing  near,  is  a  needless  if  not  a  foolish  fear.  "  Blessed 
is  that  servant  whom  his  Lord  when  He  cometh  shall  find 
watching/'  (Matt.  24:46.)  Watching  for  what?  For  the 
Master's  return.  Almost  2,000  years  must  have  made 
some  difference  in  the  proximity  of  the  Kingdom.  If 
James  could  urge  as  a  motive  to  diligence  and  an  incentive 
to  watchfulness  "the  coming  of  the  Lord  drawetli  nigh," 
how  much  more  we?  If  Paul  was  right  in  preaching — 
"  the  night  is  far  spent,  the  day  is  at  hand  " — surely  the 
night  is  farther  spent,  the  day  is  nearer.  Is  it  unwarrant- 


THE  KINGDOM  AND  THE  CHURCH.       203 

able  to  watch  eagerly  for  the  first  gray  of  the  morning,  the 
spring  of  the  day  ?  In  nature,  God  gives  us  some  indica- 
tion of  coming  Spring  besides  the  calendar,  and  some  note 
of  approaching  day  besides  the  clock  that  has  told  the 
passing  hours.  Disappearing  stars  and  appearing  stars  tell 
that  the  earth  still  rolls  on,  and  unless  they"  make  an 
unwonted  halt  the  day  must  soon  burst  in  the  East.  Are 
we  looking  thither?  There  are  heralds  upon  the  mountain 
tops,  they  will  see  the  dawn  before  those  who  abide  in  the 
valleys.  "Watchman,  what  of  the  night?"  Let  not  the 
unbelief — intense  as  that  that  shadowed  the  world  on  the 
eve  of  the  deluge,  when  the  current  jest  about  the  "  old  fool  " 
that  had  been  waiting  for  a  flood  100  years,  and  yet  it  had 
never  come,  passed  from  lip  to  lip  to  evoke  a  scornful  laugh, 
as  it  finds  expression  now — dishearten  you.  Watch  till 
the  light  streams  up,  and  shout  "  the  morning  cometh." 


204  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


THE   PRESENT  AGE   AND   DEVELOPMENT   OF 
ANTI-CHRIST. 

BY    HENRY   M.   PARSONS,    PASTOR     IAFAYETTE      STREET  PRESBYTERIAN 
CHURCH,    BUFFALO,   N.  Y. 

THE  purpose  and  object  of  tlie  present  age,  as  set  forth  in 
the  Scriptures,  require  brief  definition,  in  order  to  see  the 
relation  of  this  theme,  to  the  general  subject  before  us,  the 
personal,  and  pre-millennial  coming  of  our  Lord.  The 
word  of  God  reveals  an  age  or  period,  of  distinct  limits  and 
laws  on  this  earth,  before  the  Flood. 

Revelation  is  seen  at  the  gate  of  Eden,  in  the  smoking 
altar  of  sacrifice  — in  the  overshadowing  cherubim — and  in 
shekinah  flame  guarding  the  closed  way  to  the  tree  of  life. 
In  the  expiatory  offering  the  way  of  access  and  return  to 
God  for  the  guilty  was  clearly  arid  plainly  opened.  The 
brief  record  of  that  age  marks  the  advance  of  revealed 
truth  in  the  preaching  of  Enoch  and  Noah.  Along  with 
this  we  find  the  marked  increase  of  wickedness  and  violence 
from  the  corruption  of  the  Sons  of  God,  through  their 
intercourse  with  the  children  of  this  world.  (Gen.  6:2-5.) 

In  that  first  age,  a  few  general  principles  are  affirmed, 
which  are  repeated  in  each  subsequent  age.  We  find  man 
in  sin  and  ruin,  under  sentence  of  death,  receiving  com- 
munications of  mercy  from  God.  This  revelation  increases 
in  quantity  and  power  to  the  end  of  the  age.  It  encounters 
resistance  and  hindrance,  increasing  with  great  rapidity, 
after  the  world-force  entered  the  company  of  the  Sons  of 
God. 

The  revelation  of  judgment  in  store  for  the  rebellious 
and  ungodly  intensified  the  spirit  of  evil,  and  excited 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  ANTI -  CHRIST.  205 

greater  opposition  to  the  remedy  God  provided  and  ordered 
Noah  to  build. 

The  crisis  occurred  ;  the  family  of  God,  a  little  flock, 
were  delivered  in  His  provided  and  predicted  way — and  the 
flood  of  desolation  and  death  swept  from  the  globe  the  proud 
and  defiant  nations.  We  have  here  in  order,  First — the  rev- 
elation of  Grace,  increasing  in  fullness  and  light  to  the  end 
of  the  age.  Second — The  same  principle  of  sin  which  de- 
stroyed the  peace  and  life  of  Eden  is  seen  in  its  bitter 
opposition  — increasing  in  power  and  strength,  by  the  side  of, 
and  among  the  children  of  God.  Third — This  contest  in- 
creases till,  to  save  the  Divine  Seed,  judgment  supernatur- 
ally  interposes — destroying  the  wicked — and  the  ark  carries 
over  the  flood  the  seed  of  the  race  to  enter  a  new  Age. 

Substantially,  these '  principles  will  be  found  ruling 
through  the  Patriarchal  and  the  following  Mosaic  age. 
"With  such  accuracy  do  we  find  the  history  of  these  two  ages 
repeating  the  same  divine  order,  that  we  thus  discover  and 
derive  the  analagous  order  of  our  own  age.  For  in  the 
command  given  by  our  Lord  to  His  disciples,  and  the  at- 
tending manifestation  of  His  presence  by  the  Holy  Spirit — 
a  distinct  limit  is  assigned  to  the  Jewish  age,  and  the  begin- 
ning of  the  new  Christian  age  declared. 

"Go  ye,  therefore,  and  teach  (make  disciples  of)  all  na- 
tions, baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the 
Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  always 
(literally,  all  the  days),  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world" — 
literally,  completion  of  the  age.  And  this  comparison  of 
the  ages  is  justified  from  Col.  1:26,  where  the  great  apostle 
speaking  of  his  ministry  in  fulfilling  the  word  of  God,  says  : 
"  Even  the  mystery  which  hath  been  hid  from  ages  and 
from  generations,  but  now  is  made  manifest  to  His  saints." 
The  beginning  of  the  present  age  is  also  distinctly  defined  by 
our  Lord  in  His  reply  to  the  question  of  the  disciples  as  they 


206  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

stood  with  Him  on  the  Mount  of  Olives.  They  are  the  last 
words  from  His  lips  on  earth.  The  disciples  had  inquired  in 
regard  to  restoring  the  kingdom  to  Israel  at  that  time.  "  He 
said  unto  them,  It  is  not  for  you  to  know  the  times,  or  the 
seasons,  which  the  Father  hath  put  in  His  own  power.  But 
ye  shall  receive  power,  after  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  come 
upon  you;  and  ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  Me,  both  in  Je- 
rusalem, and  in  all  Judea,  and  in  Samaria,  and  unto  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth."  (Acts,  1:  7, 8.)  During  forty 
days  after  His  sacrifice,  the  Lord  Jesus  revealed  Himself, 
preparing  his  disciples  for  the  great  Ascension  gift.  Obedi- 
ently they  waited  in  prayer  and  faith  till  the  morning  of  the 
fifth  day,  then  "  suddenly  there  came  a  sound  from  Heaven, 
as  of  a  rushing,  mighty  wind,  and  it  filled  all  the  house 
where  they  were  sitting.  And  there  appeared  unto  them 
cloven  tongues  like  as  of  fire"  (lit.  tongues  as  of  fire,  dis- 
tributed to  them  were  seen);  "  and  it  sat  upon  each  of  them  " 
— i.  e.,  the  tongue-shaped  flame  of  fire.  This  was  the  opening 
of  the  present  age.  This  was  a  revelation  in  advance  of  all 
that  had  come  before.  This  distinguishes  the  present  age, 
as  the  dispensation  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Thenceforward  for 
near  a  century,  he  moved  upon  holy  men  to  speak  and  write 
the  Scriptures  of  the  New  Testament.  The  law  of  increas- 
ing revelation  according  to  the  object  and  need  of  the  age 
is  observed  in  this,  as  in  the  past  ages.  In  nearly  a  century 
the  revelation  of  God,  for  the  direction  and  growth  of  His 
Church  in  this  age,  was  completed,  collected,  and  gradually, 
under  the  enlightening  wisdom  of  the  same  spirit,  was  com- 
pacted into  the  present  form.  And  from  that  day  to  this 
the  same  spirit  of  wisdom  and  grace  and  light  has  caused 
the  truths  of  God  to  be  brought  forth  from  the  sacred 
oracles,  with  increasing  clearness  and  fullness,  by  His  in- 
dwelling, illuminating  and  enlightening  presence.  May  He 
bestow  on  us  who  are  here  assembled  the  humility  and  wis- 


TEE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  ANTI-  CHRIST.  207 

dom  and  knowledge  and  courage,  needful  at  this  time  to  set 
the  most  important  and  pressing  truth  concerning  the  per- 
son and  glory  of  Christ  our  King  so  before  the  minds  of 
His  people  that,  all  hearts  being  fired  with  holy  love  and 
longing  for  the  "  appearing  of  the  glory  of  the  great  God 
and  our  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,"  new  incentives  to  holy  ac- 
tivity and  gracious  diligence  may  be  received  by  all  true 
witnesses  and  workers  for  Christ  throughout  the  earth. 
The  great  mission  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  this  age  is  described 
by  our  Lord  in  the  promise  He  gave  His  disciples  before 
leaving  them.  (John  14: 16.)  "  I  will  pray  the  Father,  and 
He  shall  give  you  another  Comforter,  that  He  may  abide 
with  you  forever,  '  for  the  age.5 '  And  this  Paraclete,  v.  IT, 
"  the  world  can  not  receive,  because  it  seeth  Him  not,  neither 
knoweth  Him."  A  distinction  made  by  our  Lord  and  con- 
firmed throughout  the  New  Testament.  (John  15:  26; 
John  16: 13-14.)  The  work  of  the  same  spirit  on  the  world 
is  to  "  reprove  "  or  "  convince  "  or  "  convict  "  "  of  sin,"  of 
"  righteousness,"  and  of  "judgment."  The  age  thus  entered 
by  the  Holy  Spirit  has  at  the  outset  fully  recognized  the 
disciples  of  Christ  and  the  world  opposed  to  Him  and 
them. 

It  becomes  now  an  important  inquiry.  What  is  the 
object  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  thus  sent  down  from  the  Throne 
of  God,  and  thus  outlined  in  the  promise  of  the  Saviour, 
in  His  mission  to  our  race?  Evidently  we  have  a  period 
or  dispensation  for  His  official  action  here,  which  is  to  end. 
For  our  Saviour  promises  His  presence  in  this  form  with 
His  people,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  this  age. 
The  declared  source  of  the  commission  to  all  disciples — to 
teach  and  to  evangelize  all  nations,  is  the  fact  of  Christ's 
power  on  His  present  mediatorial  throne.  ."All  power 
(efowfe,  authority)  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in 
earth.  Therefore,  go  ye."  This  power  is  emphasized  and 


208  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

exerted  through  the  Holy  Spirit — the  Paraclete  of  the  dis- 
ciples— the  Convictor  and  Reprover  of  all  who  are  not  dis- 
ciples. It  follows  then  that  there  is  one  party  in  whom 
the  Holy  Spirit  dwells — for  our  Lord  says,  "  He  shall  be  in 
you  " — and  another  party  upon  whom  He  acts.  There  is 
one  party  through  whom  He  acts  upon  the  other,  and  there 
is  another  party  which  opposes  Him  and  those  in  whom 
He  abides.  This  distinction  is  so  apparent — and  so 
essential  to  a  right  understanding  of  the  present  age — that 
we  call  attention  briefly  to  the  scriptural  assertion  of  the 
purpose  of  the  present  age,  in  God's  economy  of  the  ages. 
We  have  seen  that  the  first  age  of  rebellion  resulted  in  the 
deliverance  through  the  crisis  of  judgment  of  eight  s'ouls. 
The  Patriarchal  Age  concludes  with  the  deliverance  of  the 
separated  people  of  God  from  the  bondage  of  Egypt.  The 
Mosaic  Age  ended  with  the  manifestation  of  Christ — the 
Divine  One,  in  human  form — the  gathering  out  of  the 
Jewish  fold — a  company  who  were  the  nucleus  of  the 
church — the  distinctive,  called  out,  separated  body  of 
•Christ.  The  Jews  as  a  nation,  were  rejected  and  dispersed 
abroad,  according  to  the  threatened  penalty  of  their  refus- 
ing and  slaying  their  King.  In  the  Ecclesia  of  the  New 
Testament  no  distinction  of  nationality  appears.  Upon  the 
confession  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Jew  and  Gentile,  Greek  and 
Scythian,  bond  and  free— male  and  female  alike — are  incor- 
porated and  enrolled,  in  that  holy  company,  called  in  the 
Kevelation,  the  Body  of  Christ,  "  the  Bride,"  the  "  Lamb's 
Wife." 

PUEPOSE    AND    LIMITS    OF   THE    AGE. 

In  the  council  convened  at  Jerusalem,  A.  D.  52,  "Simon 
Peter  declared  how  God,  at  the  first,  did  visit  the  Gentiles 
to  take  out  of  them  a  people  for  his  name"  (Acts  15: 14), 
and  then  the  record  follows,  from  the  prophets,  in  agreement 


THE  DE  VE  LOP  ME  NT  OF  ANT  I-  CHRIST.  209 

with  this  great  object.  "After  this  (the  taking  the  people 
out)  I  will  return  and  will  build  again  the  Tabernacle  of 
David,"  etc.  (Amos  9: 11,  12.)  And  in  accord  with  this,  the 
Apostle  to  the  Romans  says  (11: 25) :  "  Blindness,  in  part,  is 
happened  to  Israel  until  the  fullness  (complement  or 
appointed  number)  of  the  Gentiles  be  come  in."  26,  "And 
so  all  Israel  shall  be  saved,  as  it  is  written,  There  shall 
come  out  of  Zion  the  Deliverer,  and  shall  turn  away  ungod- 
liness from  Jacob;  for  this  is  my  covenant  with  them,  when 
1  shall  take  away  their  sins."  (Isa.  59:  20,  21,  Sept.)  In 
accord  with  this  purpose  is  the  song  of  redemption  uttered 
by  the  ransomed  church  in  the  vision  of  the  prophet  John 
(Kev.  5:9.) 

This  song  declares  the  purpose  of  the  age  to  be  the 
gathering  out  of  the  nations  a  people  who  shall  afterward 
reign  on  the  earth.  And  that  the  gathering  is  not  the  con- 
version of  all  men — but  the  evangelizing  of  the  nations — 
is  plain,  from  the  teaching  of  our  Lord  in  the  13th  of  Mat- 
thew's gospel.  There  He  says  tares  and  wheat  "grow 
together  until  the  harvest."  "  The  harvest,"  He  adds  in 
His  interpretation  is,  "  the  completion  of  the  age."  This 
chapter  contains  the  History  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  in 
mystery  during  this  present  age.  The  above  parable  refers 
to  the  corruptions  aroused  within  it  by  Satan.  The  parable 
of  the  leaven  represents  the  results  which  will  be  manifested 
in  the  same  kingdom  during  the  age,  from  the  corruptions 
introduced  by  those  who  are  within  the  church.  The  meal 
will  be  leavened  with  heresies,  a  id  perversions  during  all 
this  dispensation.  The  heat  of  the  Lord's  chastening  and 
discipline,  and  judgment,  has  arrested  this  process,  during 
the  age  thus  far,  to  bring  the  bread  out  of  each  generation, 
and  will  continue  so  to  perfect  His  own  work  until  the  end. 
The  gathering  of  the  fish  out  of  the  gospel  net  is  at  the 
completion  of  the  age.  Then  a  separation  occurs.  The 
14 


210  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

good  are  gathered.  The  bad  are  cast  away.  These  declara- 
tions of  our  Saviour  clearly  limit  and  define  the  boundaries 
of  this  age.  They  can  not  be  denied,  without  denying  the 
word  of  God.  The  distinction  of  the  good  and  bad  does 
not  hint  at  any  universal  conversion  of  men  previous  to  the 
close  of  the  age.  On  the  contrary,  it  expressly  predicts 
what  has  already  been  confirmed  by  history,  and  is  patent 
all  over  Christendom  at  this  moment.  Not  for  one  moment, 
in  the  nineteen  centuries  nearly  passed,  has  a  single  spot  on 
the  globe  presented  the  glorious  spectacle  of  an  entirely 
converted  population.  And  it  must  be  a  marvellous  im- 
peachment of  the  power  and  love  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  say 
that  His  mission  in  this  dispensation  is  to  convert  all  sin- 
ners of  our  race — and  yet  in  all  this  time,  He  has  not  been 
able  to  affect  and  influence  a  tenth  or  a  hundredth  part  of 
the  population  of  the  globe.  There  must  be  a  fearful  mis- 
take somewhere.  If  this  dispensation  is  for  the  conversion 
of  the  whole  world  to  Christ,  then,  for  more  than  1,800 
years,  any  one  can  see,  it  has  been  a  stupendous  failure. 
But  if  the  Paraclete  has  come  to  reveal  Christ  to  those  in 
every  generation  of  the  ago  who  would  receive  Him,  and  if 
the  Lord  has  commanded  His  disciples  to  preach  the  Gos- 
pel in  all  the  world  "  to  every  creature,"  to  accomplish  this 
blessed  and  glorious  end,  then  there  has  been  no  failure,  but 
in  every  nation  and  each  generation,  from  Pentecost  to  the 
present  moment,  "  he  that  feareth  God "  and  "  worketh 
righteousness  "  has  been  accepted  by  Him.  The  only  fail- 
ure has  been  on  man's  part.  Instead  of  dispersing  the 
church  in  its  representatives  to  the  end  of  the  earth,  to 
preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature — that  the  seed  of  Christ 
might  be  speed ily  gathered — we  have  been  massing  the  best 
forces  upon  a  few  favored  spots,  to  convert  all  the  people, 
without  success,  hitherto,  in  a  single  case.  Conversion  of 
men,  by  the  instruments  he  is  pleased  to  use,  is  God's  work. 


THE  DE\TELOPMKST  OF  AXTI-CUm$T. 

And  He  has  commanded  us  to  evangelize  the  world  that  He 
may  do  it  on  whom  He  ;      iC  - 

The  aw  of  pr  -.1  in  regard  to  tlie  power  and 

resul:  uiity  in  the  ages  of  the  world   dose. 

notice.    Each  age  ha-  cater  fruits,  and  a  vast 

increase  of  the  numbers  of  the  saved.     Each  age  has  also 
presented  the  similar  rapid  growth  in  the  elements  and 
forces  of  evil  opposed  to  the  Kingdom  of  God.     1 
had  its  assigned  work  in  the  recovery  of  this  earth.     Our 
its  section.     It  is  to  gather  fr  .it  of,  the 

us  (Gentiles)  the  redeemed  people  of  God.  It  is  a  mis- 
:o  Gentiles  as  distinct  from  Jews.  In  this  mission  the 
search  and  the  appeal  of  the  Spirit  is  for  the  individual — 
and  no  condition,  or  character,  or  nationality  can  exclude. 
*  man  must  be  saved  as  a  lost  sinner,  and  not  as  a  Jew. 
There  are  many  large  and  precious  promises  that  apply  to 
a  period  or  age  to  follow  the  present  These  promises  affirm 
the  ingathering  of  all  nations,  the  prevalence  of  knowledge 
and  holiness — to  such  an  extent  as  to  fill  the  earth.  But 
we  are  now  concerned  with  this  one  age,  and  we  are  not 
left  in  doubt  Let  us  dwell  for  a  few  moments  on  its  pre- 
dicted character. 

The  parables  of  our  Lord  to  which  we  have  alluded,  all 
betoken  a  mixed  and  corrupted  state  of  things  to  the  end 
of  the  age.  The  spirit  confirms  this  in  the  revelation  of 
great  apostacy.  1  Timothy,  4: 1-3:  Also,  that  thru 
great  peril  shall  be  in  the  last  days,  that  formality  and 
hypocrisy  will  abound,  that  all  who  adhere  to  godliness 
shall  suffer  persecution,  that  "  evil  men  and  seducers 
shall  wax  worse  and  worse,  deceiving  and  being  decei 
2  Timothy,  8: 1-13:  The  world  is  declared  to  be  the  enemy 
of  God,  and  as  evil  men  constitute  the  world — as  that  term 
ripture — the  world  around  us  is  growing  worse 
and  worse  every  year.  This  is  not  saying  that  gross  and 


SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


rude  forms  of  barbaric  sin  may  not  disappear  under  the 
increasing  light  of  Christianity,  but  it  declares  that  civil- 
ization without  Christ,  and  refinement  without  the  Gospel, 
are  as  much  greater  sins  in  guilt  and  condemnation,  as  the 
light  under  which  they  have  been  born  and  have  grown  is 
greater  than  the  darkness  of  heathendom.  This  is  not  say- 
ing that  pure  Christianity  does  not  increase  and  have  great 
power  in  the  world.  But  it  declares  what  God  declares  of 
the  works  of  the  flesh,  and  of  the  world.  They  are  abom- 
ination in  His  pure  eyes.  And  Christianity  is  so  saturated 
with  this  abomination  to-day  that  only  the  power  of  rebuke 
which  the  Spirit  of  God  can  exert  through  faithful  and 
loyal  witnesses,  will  prevent  its  overthrow  by  the  united 
hordes  of  lawlessness  and  infidelity.  Pure  Christianity,  in 
the  fact  of  sinners  arrested  and  saved  by  the  Spirit  of  God, 
was  never  so  rapidly  advancing  as  to-day.  The  evangelist 
work  of  preaching  directly  to  the  unsaved,  all  over  the 
world  is  showing  evidence  of  the  Divine  favor.  Sinners 
who  have  hitherto  been  unreached  are  now  coming  to  the 
Lord  in  large  numbers.  And  one  omen  of  good  is  that,  as 
they  take  the  Bible  to  be  the  revealed  will  of  God  to  them, 
they  are  rejoicing  in  the  blessed  hope  and  eager  to  know 
more  of  the  coming  King.  On  every  hand  the  signs  of  the 
times  fit  the  words  of  the  prophecy  I  have  cited.  The  boasted 
powers  and  promises  of  this  age,  to  which  even  Christian 
men  vauntingly  point,  are  not  the  power  of  godliness,  nor 
the  presence  of  Divine  Life  in  the  multitude  of  those  who 
are  filled  with  the  progress  of  arts  and  science  and  new 
inventions. 

A  recent  editorial  of  a  religious  paper  asks  this  question: 
"  As  a  question  of  historic  fact,  is  the  world,  under  the 
preaching  of  the  k  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom,'  the  <  glad  tid- 
ings of  great  joy  for  all  people,'  gi  owing  worse  and  worse? 
What  country  is  it,  in  orbis  terrarum^  which  is  to-day 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  ANTI -  CHRIST.  213 

worse  off,  in  a  less  hopeful  condition  than  it  was  one  hun- 
dred, two  hundred,  four  hundred  years  ago?  Or,  glancing 
at  the  whole  of  contemporaneous  history,  what  vast  trend 
and  fatal  momentum  of  influence  is  it,  which  shows  that 
the  world  is  frustrating  the  total  potency  and  efficacy  of 
the  '  Kingdom  of  Heaven,'  and  rendering  nugatory  all  that 
6  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  love  of  God  and 
the  fellowship  of  the  Holy  Ghost '  can  do,  as  a  world- 
redeeming  power?" 

In  answer  we  say:  The  Word  of  God  declares  that  the 
purpose  of  preaching  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  in  the 
world  is  to  save  the  people  out  of  it  called  the  Church,  and 
not  to  make  the  world  better.  The  same  Word  declares 
"a  friend  of  the  world  is  an  enemy  of  God."  (James  4:4.) 
If  the  world  is  a  world  growing  better,  and  is  in  a  more 
hopeful  condition,  every  year,  then  it  is  strange  to  read  these 
words,  from  1  John  2 : 16,  "  For  all  that  is  in  the  world, 
the  lust  of  the  flesh,  and  the  lust  of  the  eyes,  and  the  pride 
of  life,  is  not  of  the  Father  but  is  of  the  world."  If  «  his- 
toric fact "  predicates  these  things  of  the  world  when  pol- 
ished, made  decorous,  enchanting,  and  more  deceiving 
and  deceitful  by  the  perversion  of  the  light  that  has  come 
into  it,  and  they  constitute  a  more  hopeful  condition  of  the 
age  than  when  they  had  less  power,  then  "  historic  fact " 
contradicts  the  Divine  Word,  which  declares  that  "  evil 
men  and  seducers  wax  worse  and  worse,  deceiving  and 
being  deceived."  We  prefer  to  believe  God's  Word. 
"  What  vast  trend  and  fatal  momentum  of  influence  is  it, 
which  shows  that  the  world  is  frustrating  the  power  of  the 
Gospel?"  To  answer  this  let  us  look  at  the  development 
of  Antichrist  in  this  age. 


SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


POWER    AND    FORMS    OF    ANTIC  HEIST. 

It  is  quite  usual  to  regard  Antichrist  as  a  personifica- 
tion of  anything  that  opposes  Christ.  As  it  is  the  great 
power  on  which  Satan  relies  to  forward  his  cause  in  this 
age,  he  has  continued  to  throw  around  the  word  a  specula- 
tive or  mystical,  or  spiritualized  sense  that  takes  away  the 
literal  and  personal  power  of  this  mighty  adversary.  As 
against  the  confusion  of  Satan,  let  us  look  at  the  Anti- 
christ of  Prophecy.  Antichrist  is  not  an  abstract  prin- 
ciple of  evil.  Many  talk  of  the  fact  and  thought  of  evil, 
and  deny  the  personality  of  Satan,  the  grand  and  subtle 
enemy  of  God.  So,  as  the  devil  has  invented  many  works 
for  the  Son  of  God  to  destroy,  his  last  masterpiece  is  this 
Antichrist,  who  fills  up  the  prophetic  outline  of  Satan's 
campaign  in  this  age.  The  first  feature  of  the  prophetic 
account  of  Antichrist  we  notice  is  suggested  by  the  word 
itself,  in  Greek,  for,  or  in  the  place  of  Christ;  and  in 
Latin,  against  Christ.  If  he  is  predicted  as  opposing 
Christ,  we  may  expect  that  there  will  be  an  adroit  and 
plausible  attempt  to  imitate  Christ,  in  order  to  deceive,  if 
possible,  His  own  disciples.  In  the  finished  work  of 
Christ,  wherein  He  defeated  Satan  and  all  his  hosts,  as 
arrayed  against  Himself,  He  so  obtained  victory  as  to  fur- 
nish us  with  all  needed  defense  against  the  future  attacks 
of  the  same  foe  on  His  Church. 

1.  Prophecy  reveals  Antichrist  under  various  forms  and 
separate  titles.  Just  as  our  Lord  is  predicted  by  prophets 
and  priests  of  the  Old  Testament,  each  one  presenting  some 
significant  trait  of  His  character,  some  form  of  His  oifice, 
some  distinct  picture  of  His  person,  of  His  coming  and 
His  reign — all  which  are  completed  and  compacted  in 
His  incarnation — so  the  pen  of  inspiration  sketches  the 
portrait  of  this  adverse  and  opposing  person,  Anti-christ, 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  ANTI- CHRIST. 


215 


under  various  forms,  and  separate  titles.  The  Apostle 
John,  in  his  Epistle,  speaks  of  the  spirit  of  Antichrist  as 
then  prevailing,  and  that,  whoever  denies  that  Christ  is  to 
come  in  the  flesh  is  Antichrist.  (1  John  2:18;  4:3.)  He 
does  not  call  any  name  in  thus  describing  the  spirit  of 
Antichrist.  It  will  be  more  suggestive  than  any  labored 
exposition,  to  reveal  the  truth  of  Scripture  on  this  subject 
to  turn  our  attention  to  several  inspired  portraits,  and  see 
how  they  fit  the  thought  we  are*  urging,  that  under  separate 
names  and  titles  the  same  person  is  always  meant.  Thus, 
in  Revelation  13th,  the  Beast  is  described;  in  7th  and  8th  of 
Daniel  the  Little  Horn;  in  llth  of  Daniel,  King  of  Fierce 
Countenance;  and  in  9th  the  Prince  that  shall  come;  the 
King  of  Assyria  of  10th;  and  Lucifer,  of  14th  of  Isaiah. 
The  Man  of  Sin  and  Son  of  Perdition.  (2  Thess.  2.)  With- 
out explanation,  let  us  compare  a  few  of  the  accounts  of 
these  separate  titles: 

Thus  as  the  Beast. 

Revelation  13:6:    "  He  opens  his 

mouth    in    blasphemy    against 

God,  to    blaspheme  His  name, 

and   His  Tabernacle,  and  them 

that  dwell  in  Heaven;"    13:7: 

"  He  makes  war  with  the  saints 

and  overcomes  them." 
Revelation  13:5:  "Authority  was 

given  unto  him  forty  and  two 

months,"  i.  e.  1,260  days. 

Of  these  separate  symbols  the  same  things  are  declared — 
and  thus,,  presumably,  one   person  is  identified  by   both. 


As  the  Little  Horn. 

Daniel  7 : 25 :  "He  speaks  great 
words  against  the  Most  High." 

Daniel  7:21:  "He  makes  war 
with  the  saints,  and  prevails." 

Daniel  7:25:  "The  saints  are 
given  into  his  hand  until  a  time 
and  times  and  the  dividing  of 
time,"  i.  e.  1,260  days. 


Again  we  read  that  Antichrist 
As  the  Little  Horn. 

Dan.  7 :  25 :  "  Speaks  great  words 
against  the  Most  High." 

7:22:  "Shall  prevail  until  the 
Ancient  of  days  came,  and  judg- 
ment is  given  to  the  saiuts  of 
the  Most  High;  and  the  time 
came  that  the  saints  possessed 
the  Kingdom." 


As  the    King  of   Fierce  Counte- 
nance. 

Dan.  11 :  36 :  "  Speak  marvellous 
things  against  the  God  of  gods." 

Dan.  11 :  36 :  •'  Shall  prosper  till 
the  indignation  (against  Israel 
and  Jerusalem)  be  accom- 
plished." 


216 


SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


Here  we  observe  a  similar  identity  in  the  symbols — and 
further  read  that 


As  the  King  of  Fierce    Counte- 
nance. 
Dan.  11:4:    "He  shall  enter  also 

into  the  glorious  land." 
Dan.  11 :  40 :    "  Enters  the  glorious 

land  at  the  time  of  the  end." 
11 : 36 :     "  He  shall  prosper  till  the 

indignation  (against  Israel  and 

Jerusalem)  be  accomplished." 

And  again, 

The  Second  Little  Horn. 
Dan.    8:11:    "Takes    away    the 

daily  sacrifice." 
Dan.  8:19:     "  Shall  prosper  in  the 

last  end  of  the  indignation." 


As  Second  Little  Horn. 
Dan.    8:9:       "He    waxes     great 

toward  the  pleasant  land." 
Dan.  8 : 17 :     "At  the  time  of  the 

end  shall  be  the  vision." 
Dan.  8 : 19 :     "He  shall  prosper  in 

the    last  end    of   indignation" 

(against  Israel  and  Jerusalem). 


The  Prince  that  shall  come. 

Dan.  9 :  27 :  "  Causes  the  sacri- 
fice and  oblation  to  cease." 

Dan.  9 : 27 :  "  Till  that  determined 
is  poured  upon  the  desolator." 


These  prophetic  statements  seem  conclusive  against  the 
theory  of  a  growing  increase  of  holiness,  and  peace,  and 
purity,  that  shall  be  universal,  previous  to  the  coming  again 
of  the  Lord.  For  instead  of  a  gradual  victory  over  the  foe 
they  describe  his  vaunted  resumption  of  power,  until  a  given 
time  —  when  the  "indignation"  against  Israel  shall  be 
accomplished,  and  the  end  of  the  age  be  at  hand. 

Another  prophetic  statement  in  2  Thess.  2:  4,  describes 
Antichrist "  as  exalting  himself  above  all  that  is  called  God, 
or  that  is  worshipped."  And  this  has  currently  been 
applied  to  the  apostate  Roman  Church,  in  the  assumptions 
claimed  and  exercised  by  the  Pope.  Without  doubt  there 
is  here  an  illustrious  and  conspicuous  and  continued 
representation  of  the  spirit  of  Antichrist  manifesting  itself 
through  the  age,  within  the  Christian  Church,  and  in  the 
name  of  Christ.  For  we  must  look  for  this  manifestation 
not  outside,  but  within  the  organized  Christian  fold.  Yet 
in  the  prophetic  statement  of  the  final  Antichrist,  in  Daniel 
11:45.  it  is  said:  "  He  shall  plant  the  tabernacle  of  his 
palace  between  the  seas  in  the  glorious  Holy  Mountain," 
and  in  2  Thess.  2:4,  he  is  represented  as  "sitting  in  the 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  ANT  I-  CHRIST. 


217 


Temple  of  God,  showing  himself  that  he  is  God."  While 
this  last  feature  of  the  reign  of  Antichrist  finds  its  shadow 
in  the  pretensions  of  the  Papacy,  we  still  believe  that  a  more 
concrete  future  fulfillment,  springing  out  of  present  and 
patent  channels  of  blasphemy  and  corruption,  will  be  seen 
in  the  literal  temple  yet  to  be  built  in  Jerusalem. 

There  is  another  prophecy  in  the  vision  of  John  which 
bears  upon  this  view,  Eev.  17:  12-14 :  the  ten  kings  which 
are  to  come  receive  power  one  hour — "  the  same  hour  " — 
with  the  Beast,  or  Antichrist,  and  they  give  all  their  power 
and  strength  to  him.  And  then  occurs  the  war  with  the 
Lamb  and  His  victory. 

2.  The  personality  of  this  Antichrist  who  has  been  pre- 
dicted and  foreshadowed  by  many  persons  as  types,  is  seen 
to  be  real  and  finally  visible  in  human  form.  From  noting 
the  contrasts  of  personal  and  moral  qualities  in  Christ,  the 
true  Prophet  and  Yictor  King,  we  see 


Christ 

John  8:31:  "  Comes  from  above." 

John  5 : 43 :  "  Comes  in  His  Fath- 
er's name." 

Phil.  2:8:  "  Humbled  Himself  and 
became  obedient." 

Isa.  53 :  3 :  "  Was  despised  and  re- 
jected, and  we  esteemed  Him 
not." 

John  6 :  38 :  "  Comes  to  do  His 
Father's  will." 

John  17: 4:  "Glorifies  God  on 
earth." 

John  10 : 14, 15 :  "  The  Good  Shep- 
herd that  giveth  His  life  for  the 
sheep." 

Phil.  2 : 9, 10 :  "  God  highly  exalts 
Him,  and  gives  Him  a  name 
above  every  name,  that  at  the 
name  of  Jesus  every  knee  should 
bow." 

Matt.  24 :  30 :  "  Shall  be  seen  com- 
ing in  the  clouds  with  power  and 
great  glory." 

Rev.  11 : 15 :  "  Shall  reign  forever 
and  ever." 

Heb.  1:2:  "The  heir  of  all 
things." 


Antichrist 

Rev.  11:7:    "  Comes  from  below." 

John  5 :  43 :   "  Comes  in  His  own.1' 

2  Thess.  2:4:  "Exalts  himself 
above  all." 

Rev.  13:3,  4:  "All  the  world 
wonder  after  the  beast,  saying, 
who  is  like  unto  Him  ?" 

Dan.  11:31:  "  Does  according  ta 
His  own." 

Rev.  13 : 6 :  "  Blasphemes  the  name 
of  God." 

Zech.  11 : 16,  17 :  "  The  evil  shep- 
herd or  idle  shepherd  who  shall 
tear  the  flesh." 

Isaiah  14 : 14, 15 :  "  Exalteth  him- 
self above  the  heights  of  the 
clouds,  yet  is  brought  down  to 
hell."  ' 

Isaiah  14: 16:  "They  that  see  thee 
shall  narrowly  look  upon  thee, 
saying,  Is  this  the  man  that, 
made  the  earth  to  tremble,  that 
did  shake  the  kingdoms." 

Dan.  7 :  26 :  "  They  shall  take  away 
his  dominion,  to  consume  and 
destroy  it  to  the  end." 

2  Thess.  2:3:  The  son  of  Perdition. 


218  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


ANTICHRIST    NOT   A   MYTH. 

Antichrist  is  not  a  mere  principle,  nor  a  myth.  If  Chri  st 
be  a  real  person  in  human  form,  so  is  he.  If  Christ  is 
declared  and  spoken  of  as  endowed  with  all  grace  and 
humility  and  glory,  and  having  a  glorious  retinue  of  the 
saved  and  glorified  ones — Antichrist  is  the  embodied  reality 
of  the  very  opposite  principles  and  their  malignant  sup- 
porters, which  shall  be  utterly  destroyed  in  all  their  usurped 
empire,  and  in  the  very  person  of  their  boastful  and 
blasphemous  king,  in  that  day  when  the  Faithful  and  True 
shall  ride  forth  from  the  opened  heaven  with  His  armies  to 
"  judge  and  make  war."  (Eev.  19: 11-14.)  (3.)  There  is 
a  preparation  now  going  on  for  this  grand  and  glorious 
issue,  on  the  part  of  the  enemies  of  God.  In  Eev.  16: 13- 
14,  we  have  a  description  of  three  unclean  spirits,  like  frogs, 
coming  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  dragon,  the  beast  and  the 
false  prophet.  These  are  spirits  of  demons  working  mira- 
cles, going  forth  to  the  kings  of  the  earth  and  of  the  world 
to  gather  them  to  the  great  battle  of  which  we  have  spoken. 

We  must  remember  that  the  analogy  of  the  ages  to 
which  I  have  referred,  bids  us  expect  an  interval  of  time  in 
the  preparation  for  the  closing  and  opening  of  the  age. 
Thus  Noah  warned  his  age  120  years  before  the  deluge. 
Moses  was  refused,  and  for  forty  years,  the  patriarchal  age 
lingered,  and  forty  years  elapsed  before  they  were  ready  for 
Canaan.  Thirty  years,  from  birth,  Christ  was  manifested, 
and  forty  years  after  Jerusalem  was  destroyed.  One 
spirit  came  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  Dragon.  This  may  be 
infidelity,  in  its  various  forms,  now  so  fashionably  prevalent, 
atheism,  pantheism,  skepticism,  rationalism,  and  all  the 
forms  and  phases  of  intellectual  speculation'which  deny  the 
word  of  the  living  God  to-day.  These  are  recruiting  the 
forces  for  Antichrist.  Satan's  stronghold  of  delusion  from 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  ANTI -CHRIST.  219 

the  first  has  been  the  denial  of  God's  word.  "Ye  shall  not 
surely  die."  The  next  demon  comes  out  of  the  mouth  of  the 
Antichrist,  and  represents  that  alienation  from  God,  inde- 
pendence of  God,  and  opposition  to  Him,  which  in  these 
days  is  so  manifest,  a  worldly  spirit,  secretly  or  openly 
infusing  itself  in  the  Church.  That  lawlessness  spoken  of 
in  2  Thess.  2:  7,  which  is  so  rapidly  developing  in  this  and 
other  lands  as  a  lawless  and  godless  socialism.  And  then 
a  third  demon  from  the  mouth  of  the  false  prophet.  When 
men  cast  oif  the  superstitions  of  the  Harlot  they  will  have 
some  religion.  When  men  throw  off  the  external  garb  of 
a  formal  godliness  they  will  seek  some  refuge  of  lies.  And 
so  Spiritualism  is  a  widely  extended  phase  of  modern 
infidelity. 

These  three  unclean  spirits  are  recognized  by  all  the 
children  of  God.  We  can  not,  my  brethren,  reason  them 
down,  or  coax  them,  with  the  flatteries  of  a  miscalled  Chris- 
tian charity,  to  cease  their  dreadful  work  of  preparation  for 
the  empire  of  the  final  Antichrist.  The  sword  of  the  Spirit, 
the  Word  of  God,  used  in  faith — not  with  superstitious 
fear — is  the  only  weapon  that  can  prosper  against  them. 
And  with  this  in  hand  we  shall  not  lean  upon  the  arm  of  flesh, 
and  cry  "  peace,  peace,"  when  there  is  no  peace  but  rad- 
ical hate  and  determined  warfare  upon  the  Son  of  God.  The 
calculation,  which,  by  arithmetical  process,  would  convert 
this  world  to  Christ  in  fifty  or  a  hundred  years,  falls  to 
the  ground  when  we  consider  the  number  and  extent  of  the 
enemies  of  our  Lord,  within  the  very  Church  professing  to 
receive  and  obey  His  last  command.  The  age  of  the  Church 
among  the  Gentiles  will  find  the  same  appalling  intrusion 
from  conformity  to  the  world,  which  we  have  recorded  in 
every  experiment  before.  God  will  be  glorified  in  His 
creatures.  In  every  age,  thus  far,  the  revelation  from  heaven 
has  been  taken,  and  with  all  its  uplifting  aid,  man  has 


220  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

started  upon  his  first  sad  venture  of  being  as  God,  and 
capable  of  guiding  himself.  His  failure  is  demonstrated 
in  each  dispensation  so  wonderfully,  it  would  seem  that 
man  should  accept  the  word  of  his  Lord,  and  rest  only  on 
Him. 

But  the  power  of  Gentile  civilization,  the  supremacy  of 
Christianized  thought  and  institutions,  is  so  powerful  and 
dazzling  that  men  will  not  believe  the  Word  of  God.  The 
Church  is  following  the  path  of  the  Jews  in  their  view  of 
the  First  Advent.  They  looked  at  the  coming  glory,  until 
dazzled  with  the  sight,  they  overlooked  the  humiliation  and 
suffering  of  our  Lord  that  was  made  essential  to  His  appear- 
ing in  glory.  To-day  the  Church  at  large  look  for  the 
recovery  of  this  earth  and  this  human  race  by  means  which 
nowhere  in  God's  Word  can  be  found  appointed  to  that  end. 

The  destinies  of  our  age  are  plainly  declared.  As  one 
has  well  said:  "  When  this,  our  Gentile  dispensation,  shall 
have  run  the  vast  round  of  earth,  and  have  reached  again 
its  starting  point,  the  land  of  its  nativity,  and,  returning 
home  in  grief,  as  it  were  to  die,  its  cradle  will  become  its 
grave."  But  "  in  these  days  the  God  of  Heaven  shall  set 
up  a  Kingdom  which  shall  never  be  destroyed."  Thus  will 
set  in  divided  glory  and  gloom,  the  Saturday  evening's  sun 
of  the  present  dispensation,  briefly  preceding  the  millennial 
dawn  of  the  new  Judaic  dispensation,  when  Jerusalem  shall 
at  last  dwell  safely  at  rest  from  her  Gentile  foes;  when  "  her 
light  shall  go  forth  as  brightness,  and  the  salvation  thereof 
as  a  lamp  that  burneth  "  to  all  the  families  of  the  earth, 
with  none  to  molest  or  make  afraid  in  all  God's  Holy 
Mountain. 

Thus  shall  Antichrist  arise  and  prosper  and  practice  and 
pass  away,  and  the  groaning  and  travailing  earth,  now  at 
last  relieved,  enter  upon  a  Sabbath  of  peaceful  and  blessed 
rest,  and  Satan  be  bound  for  a  thousand  years. 


THE  DE  VELOPMENT  OF  ANTI -  CHRIST.  221 

How  boundless  a  source  of  comfort,  support  and  repose, 
the  prospect  of  that  millennial  rest,  with  its  earthly  felicity 
and  its  heavenly  ministrations,  to  those  destined  to  pass 
through  the  perilous  scenes  of  that  coming  tribulation,  the 
very  threshold  of  which  we  are  treading  even  now !  (Briefs  of 
Prophetic  Themes,  p.  168.) 

Brethren  and  friends,  we  are  called  to  preach  the  Gospel 
to  every  creature  during  this  age,  that  from  every  nation 
and  tongue  and  people,  the  Lord  Jesus  may  gather  His 
dear  Bride!  Now,  in  the  wilderness,  we  often  loiter  and 
linger  in  some  enchanted  bower.  Let  us  go  forth  with 
renewed  energy  and  consecration  to  the  work.  A  perishing 
world  demands  our  faithful  testimony  for  our  absent  Lord. 
Let  us  be  true  and  loyal  to  our  coming  King.  u  It  is  high 
time  to  awake  out  of  sleep;  for  now  is  our  salvation  nearer 
than  when  we  believed.  The  night  is  far  spent,  the  day  is 
at  hand."  (Rom.  13: 11,  12.) 

Soon  will  be  "  heard  as  it  were  the  voice  of  a  great  mul- 
titude, and  as  the  voice  of  many  waters,  and  as  the  voice  of 
mighty  thunderings  saying,  Hallelujah,  for  the  Lord  God 
Omnipotent  reigneth.  Let  us  be  glad  and  rejoice,  and  give 
honor  to  Him;  for  the  marriage  of  the  Lamb  is  come,  and 
His  wife  hath  made  herself  ready."  (Eev.  19:7.)  "  Blessed 
are  they  which  are  called  unto  the  marriage  supper  of  the 
Lamb.  And  he  sayeth  to  me:  These  are  the  true  sayings 
of  God."  (Kev.  19:9.) 


222  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


THE  GATHERING  OF  ISRAEL. 

BY  BISHOP  W.  B.  NICHOLSON,   OF  THE  KEFORMED   EPISCOPAL    CHUBCHr 
PHILADELPHIA. 

BY  Israel  is  here  meant,  as  the  Scriptures  speak,  "  Both  the 
houses  of  Israel "  (Isa.  8: 14);  or  "  The  house  of  Israel  and 
the  house  of  Judah  "  (Jer.  31 :  31) ;  or  Judah  and  Ephraiin 
(see  Hosea);  or  the  two  tribes  of  Judah  and  Benjamin,  and 
the  ten  remaining  tribes.  "  Both  the  houses  of  Israel  "  is 
interchangeable  with  "  the  house  of  Israel,"  one  house  (Jer. 
31:31,  33)  in  which  usage  "the  house  of  Israel"  is  con- 
terminous with  "  the  house  of  Jacob  "  (Psalm  114: 1.)  By 
the  gathering  of  Israel  is  meant  the  gathering  back  of  all 
the  twelve  tribes  of  Jacob  from  their  dispersion,  continued 
through  so  many  ages,  to  their  own  covenanted  land,  Pales- 
tine, and  the  resettlement  of  them  there  as  one  nation.  Is 
this  restoration  of  Israel  a  foreshown  fact  in  prophecy? 
And  if  so,  what  circumstances  of  the  regathering,  if  any, 
are  at  the  same  time  predicted  ?  This  is  our  subject. 

1.  As  regards  the  prophetical  fact  of  the  restoration. 
In  giving  answer  to  this  question  I  find  myself  in  the  midst 
of  an  embarrassment  of  riches.  It  is  impossible  to  exhibit 
within  the  limits  of  this  paper  the  full  strength  of  the 
prophetical  proof,  since  in  that  case  I  should  have  to  quote 
an  immense  proportion  of  the  Bible.  We  can  consider 
but  a  very  few  references,  a  mere  sample  of  the  whole; 
these,  however,  shall  be  in  themselves  exhaustive  and  all- 
sufficient. 

We  turn  to  Ezekiel  36:22-28:  "  Say  unto  the  house  of  Israel,  Thus 
saith  the  Lord  God  *  *  *  I  will  take  you  from  among  the  heathen, 
and  gather  you  out  of  all  countries,  and  will  bring  you  into  your  own 


THE  GATHERING-  OP  ISRAEL.  223 

land.  Then  will  I  sprinkle  clean  water  upon  you,  and  ye  shall  be  clean;, 
from  all  your  filthiness,  and  from  all  your  idols,  will  I  cleanse  you.  A 
new  heart,  also,  will  I  give  you,  and  a  new  spirit  will  I  put  within  you,, 
and  I  will  take  away  the  stony  heart  out  of  your  flesh,  and  I  will  give 
you  an  heart  of  flesh.  And  I  will  put  My  spirit  within  you,  and  cause 
you  to  walk  in  My  statutes,  and  ye  shall  keep  My  judgments,  and  do 
them.  And  ye  shall  dwell  in  the  land  that  I  gave  to  your  fathers;  and 
ye  shall  be  My  people,  and  I  will  be  your  God." 

Here,  how  positively  stated  is  the  purposed  fact  of  their 
restoration.  But  this  restoration  can  not  be  the  return 
from  the  captivity  in  Babylon;  for,  besides  that  it  takes 
place  "out  of  all  countries,"  instead  of  only  one,  it  ia 
attended  with  the  converting  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  giv- 
ing new  hearts  to  the  restored  ones,  and  causing  them  to 
walk  in  all  obedience  to  God;  blessings  of  the  Spirit,  which 
were  not  fulfilled  at  the  return  from  Babylon.  Nor  is  it 
the  setting  forth,  whether  typically,  symbolically,  or  other- 
wise, of  the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles  and  their  restoration 
from  Satan  to  God,  or  the  establishment  of  the  Christian 
church  among  the  Gentiles  and  its  spiritual  prosperity;  for 
it  is  expressly  "the  house  of  Israel"  whom  God  here 
addresses,  and  the  land  to  which  restoration  is  effected  i& 
identically  that  which  "  God  gave  to  the  fathers  "  of  that 
house,  a  land  which,  as  God  goes  on  to  say  in  the  subse- 
quent verses,  has  been  "  waste  and  desolate,"  and  filled  with 
44  ruined  cities,"  but  which  is  now  to  be  u  tilled,"  and  to 
abound  in  "  corn,  and  the  fruit  of  the  tree,  and  the  increase 
of  the  field;"  literally  the  land  of  Israel,  then,  and  not 
typically  or  symbolically  something  else.  Thus  the  regath- 
ering  of  Israel  spoken  of  in  this  passage  can  possibly  refer 
only  to  the  literal  Israel,  and  to  their  restoration  to  Pales- 
tine. And  since,  as  we  have  seen,  it  did  not  take  place  at 
the  return  of  Babylon,  by  the  same  token,  there  never  hav- 
ing been  any  other  restoration  of  that  people,  it  has,  as  yet, 
never  taken  place  at  all.  It  is  yet  in  the  future. 


SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


Ezekiel  37:15-22: 

"  The  Word  of  the  Lord  came  again  unto  me,  saying  :  Moreover,  thou 
son  of  man  take  thee  one  stick,  and  write  upon  it,  for  Judah  and  for  the 
children  of  Israel  his  companions;  then  take  another  stick  and  write 
upon  it,  For  Joseph,  the  stick  of  Ephrairn,  and  for  all  the  house  of 
Israel  his  companions  ;  and  join  them  one  to  another,  into  one  stick,  and 
they  shall  become  one  in  thine  hand.  And  when  the  children  of  thy 
people  shall  speak  unto  thee,  saying,  Wilt  thou  not  show  us  what  thou 
meanest  by  these  ?  Say  unto  them  :  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God,  Behold,  I 
will  take  the  stick  of  Joseph,  which  is  in  the  hand  of  Ephraim,  and  the 
tribes  of  Israel  his  fellows,  and  will  put  them  with  him,  even  with  the 
stick  of  Judah,  and  make  them  one  stick,  and  they  shall  be  one  in  mine 
hand.  And  the  sticks  whereon  thou  writest  shall  be  in  thine  hand  before 
their  eyes.  And  say  unto  them,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God,  Behold,  I  will 
take  the  children  of  Israel  from  among  the  heathen,  whither  they  be 
gone,  and  will  gather  them  on  every  side,  and  bring  them  into  their  own 
land;  and  I  will  make  them  one  nation  in  the  land,  upon  the  mountains 
of  Israel;  and  one  king  shall  be  king  to  them  all  ;  and  there  shall  be  no 
more  two  nations,  neither  shall  they  be  divided  into  two  kingdoms  any 
more  at  all." 

Anything  more  conclusive  than  this  it  is  not  possible  to 
put  into  language,  or  even  to  conceive  of.  Both  divisions 
of  Israel  are  expressly  mentioned,  Judah  and  his  compan- 
ions, and  Ephraim  and  his  companions;  they  shall  be  taken 
"  from  among  the  heathen  (the  nations),"  and  be  gathered 
"  on  every  side  "  (out  of  all  nations);  they  shall  be  "  brought 
into  their  own  land,  the  land  upon  the  mountains  of  Israel,"' 
and  in  that  land  the  two  divisions  shall  be  made  "one 
nation,"  and  never  more  shall  they  become  "  two  nations," 
or  be  "  divided  into  two  kingdoms;"  the  reference  being  to 
the  rebellion  of  the  ten  tribes  under  Rehoboam,  Solomon's 
successor,  and  their  secession  from  his  authority  under  Jer- 
oboam. Reference  to  literal  Israel  could  not  be  more  dem- 
onstrated, nor  the  fact  of  their  restoration  to  Palestine 
more  positively  stated;  meanwhile  the  impressive  effect  of 
both  the  literalness  and  positiveness  is  made  superlative, 
by  means  of  a  symbolism  of  the  two  sticks,  bearing  each 


THE  GATHERING  OF  ISRAEL.  225 

the  name  of  one  of  the  two  houses  of  Israel  respectively, 
and  joined  together  in  the  hand  of  the  prophet.  And  that 
this  restoration  is  not  the  return  from  Babylon  is  beyond 
question,  from  what  follows  in  the  chapter;  for  God 
immediately  proceeds  to  say,  that,  upon  the  occurring  of 
this  restoration  of  Israel  to  their  own  land,  He  will  make 
a  covenant  of  peace  with  them,  an  everlasting  covenant 
with  them,  and  "  will  set  His  sanctuary  in  the  midst  of 
them  forevermore,"  and  "  they  shall  walk  in  His  judg- 
ments, and  observe  His  statutes,"  and  "  they  shall  dwell 
in  the  land  that  Pie  has  given  unto  Jacob,  wherein  their 
fathers  have  dwelt,  they  and  their  children,  and  their  chil- 
dren's children  forever;"  none  of  which  things  were  true  of 
their  going  back  from  Babylon.  Both  houses  of  Israel 
are  yet  to  be  gathered  out  of  all  nations  to  their  own  land. 
In  the  ninth  chapter  of  the  prophecy  of  Amos,  at  the 
ninth  verse,  the  Lord  says:  "  For,  lo,  I  will  command  and 
I  will  sift  the  house  of  Israel  among  all  nations,  like  as 
corn  is  sifted  in  a  sieve  " — a  vigorous  description  of  their 
divinely  inflicted  dispersion,  which,  beginning  so  many 
ages  ago,  has  continued  to  the  present  moment;  "yet  shall 
not  the  least  grain  fall  upon  the  earth"  — an  equally  vigor- 
ous description  of  their  divinely  wrought  marvelous  pres- 
ervation as  a  people,  although  scattered  through  all  nations 
during  all  those  terrible  ages  of  suffering.  Now,  for  what 
purpose  have  they  been  so  preserved?  The  Lord  Himself 
answers,  in  the  fourteenth  verse,  "And  I  will  bring  again 
the  captivity  of  My  people  of  Israel,  and  they  shall  build 
the  waste  cities,  and  inhabit  them;  and  they  shall  plant 
vineyards,  and  drink  the  wine  thereof ;  they  shall  also  make 
gardens,  and  eat  the  fruit  of  them ; "  that  is,  He  would  pre- 
serve them  in  their  national  identity  on  purpose  to  return 
them  to  their  national  territory;  to  a  land,  their  entrance 
into  which  would  be  His  "bringing  them  again;"  a  land 
15 


226  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

whose  soil  they  should  cultivate  into  vineyards  and  gardens, 
and  whose  grapes  and  vegetables  they  should  enjoy;  liter- 
ally a  land,  then,  and  their  own  land;  literally  the  tribes 
of  Jacob  gathered  back  to  where  they  had  nationally  dwelt 
long  centuries  before.  Has  this  restoration  of  that  people 
ever  been  effected?  Nay,  for  the  Lord  continues:  u  And  I 
will  plant  them  upon  their  land,  and  they  shall  no  more  be 
pulled  up  out  of  their  land  which  I  have  given  them,  saith 
the  Lord  thy  God."  But  their  dispersion  among  the 
nations  is  a  living  experience  before  our  eyes  to-day;  there- 
fore, never  did  occur  their  restoration  as  spoken  of  in  this 
passage  from  Amos ;  they  have  yet  to  be  so  planted  in  their 
land,  as  that  they  shall  no  more  be  pulled  up  out  of  it.  The 
land  is  still  waiting  for  them,  and  they  are  being  kept  of 
God  for  the  land. 

So  far  we  have  but  tasted  of  Old  Testament  teaching,  on 
the  point  before  us.  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah  are  full  of  testi- 
monies every  whit  as  strong  as  the  ones  we  have  examined; 
and  so  are  many  others  of  the  prophets.  But  we  now  pass 
to  the  New  Testament  Scriptures,  wherein  is  clearly  recog- 
nized that  there  is  yet  to  be  a  regathering  of  Israel  to  their 
own  land;  although  consistently  with  the  purpose  and 
character  of  what  we  call  the  Christian  dispensation,  it  is 
not  so  pervasively  there  as  in  the  Old  Testament. 

In  Romans  9:4,  5,  St.  Paul,  having  mentioned  the 
"  Israelites,"  says  that  to  them  appertain  "  the  adoption, 
and  the  covenants,  and  the  promises,  and  the  fathers."  He 
expressly  identifies  the  Israelites  of  whom  he  is  speaking 
as  "his  kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh;"  therefore,  literal, 
national  Israel.  Theirs  is  "  the  adoption,"  he  says.  But 
if  their  adoption  or  sonship  as  a  people  be  only  a  past  fact, 
having  no  influence  for  the  yet  future,  how  can  it  still  be  to 
them,  as  a  people,  a  matter  of  privilege  and  blessing? 
Theirs  are  "the  covenants,"  he  says.  But  one  of  those 


THE  GATHERING  OF  ISRAEL.  227 

covenants — is  it  not  God's  arrangement  with  Abraham  to 
give  to  him  and  his  seed  "  all  the  land  of  Canaan  for  an 
everlasting  possession."  (Gen.  17.)  Must  they  not,  there- 
fore, be  reinstated  in  that  land?  Theirs  are  "the  promises," 
he  says.  But  what  promises  can  belong  to  them  as  a  dis- 
tinct people,  save  such  as  those  of  which  we  have  had  a 
sample  from  the  Old  Testament?  Theirs  are  "  the  fathers," 
he  says.  But  what  are  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob  to 
them  as  a  people,  if  they,  the  descendants  of  those  fathers, 
are  forever  nationally  defunct?  So  inevitably  implied  in 
St.  Paul's  enumeration  of  the  privileges  of  his  kinsmen 
according  to  the  flesh  is  the  prophetical  fact  of  the  gather- 
ing  of  them  back  to  their  own  land.  In  Romans  11: 1,  the 
Apostle  exclaims,  "  I  say,  then,  Hath  God  cast  away  His 
people?  God  forbid.  For  I,  also,  am  an  Israelite,  of  the 
seed  of  Abraham,  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin."  That  is,  the 
literal,  national  Israel  are  God's  ancient  people;  and  as 
such  He  has  not  cast  them  away.  In  Luke  21:24,  Jesus 
said:  "They  shall  be  led  away  captive  into  all  nations;  and 
Jerusalem  shall  be  trodden  down  of  the  Gentiles  until  the 
times  of  the  Gentiles  be  fulfilled."  When  this  fulfillment 
of  the  times  shall  have  taken  place,  then  shall  Jerusalem  be 
no  longer  trodden  down ;  it  shall  be  in  the  possession  of  ita 
•ancient  owners,  even  of  those  who  have  been  led  away  cap- 
tive  into  all  nations.  And  did  not  the  Lord  Jesus  advert 
to  the  same  prophetical  fact,  when  He  said  to  His  apostles 
(Matt.  19:  28),  "In  the  regeneration,  when  the  Son  of  Man 
shall  sit  in  the  throne  of  His  glory,  ye  shall  also  sit  upon 
twelve  thrones,  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel!"  For 
how  shall  the  apostles  rule  over  the  twelve  tribes,  if,  as 
twelve  tribes,  they  shall  then  have  no  existence,  or  if  they 
be  not  gathered  together  as  a  nationality? 

Let  these  instances    suffice,  as  regards  the  New  Testa- 
ment, for  the  prophetical  fact  of  Israel's  yet  future  restora- 


228  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

tion.  Other  citations  might  be  given,  especially  almost  the 
whole  of  one  entire  book,  the  great  prophetical  Apocalypse, 
in  which  this  fact  is  the  underlying  element,  the  very 
centre  around  which  revolve  its  terrors  and  its  grandeurs. 
As,  however,  I  shall  have  occasion  to  refer  to  that  book  in 
another  part  of  our  subject,  I  here  conclude  the  direct  argu- 
ment for  the  general  fact.  Limited  though  oar  selections 
of  proof  have  been,  they  yet  are  ample.  Undeniably,  both 
houses  of  Israel,  as  one  nationality,  shall  yet  be  re-estab- 
lished in  Palestine,  the  land  of  their  ancient  inheritance. 
Moreover,  the  argument  for  the  fact  will  be  continually 
expanding  and  strengthening,  while  we  shall  be  considering 
the  predicted  circumstances  of  the  fact. 

II.  The  gathering  of  Israel  will  be  accomplished  in  two 
installments . 

1.  One  movement  in  the  process  of  their  restoration  will 
have  taken  place  previously  to  the  Lord's  Second  Coming. 
•"  Behold,"  saith  God,  in  Zechariah  (14),  "  the  day  of  the 
Lord  cometh.  For  I  will  gather  all  nations  against  Jeru- 
salem to  battle;  and  the  city  shall  be  taken,  and  half  of  the 
•city  shall  go  forth  into  captivity,  and  the  residue  of  the 
people  shall  not  be  cut  off  from  the  city."  Now,  if  Israel 
be  not  there,  why  are  the  nations  there  to  fight  against 
them?  for  that  it  is  Israel  against  whom  this  battle  is  waged 
is  sufficiently  suggested  by  the  wor^l  "  nations,"  as  designat- 
ing the  attacking  party;  in  fact,  however,  the  whole  chapter 
is  express  as  to  the  presence  of  Israel.  But  it  is  in  con- 
nection with  this  battle  that  "  the  day  of  the  Lord  cometh." 
And  the  prophecy  proceeds:  "  Then  shall  the  Lord  go  forth, 
and  fight  against  those  nations.  And  His  feet  shall  stand 
in  that  day  upon  the  Mount  of  Olives,  which  is  before 
Jerusalem  on  the  east."  This  is  the  Second  Coming,  and 
lo,  Israel  are  already  in  their  own  land.  Again  (Zechariali 
12)  :  "  Behold,  I  will  make  Jerusalem  a  cup  of  trembling 


THE  GATHERING  OF  ISRAEL.  229 

unto  all  the  people  round  about,  when  they  shall  be  in  the 
siege  both  against  Judah  and  against  Jerusalem."  Here 
the  presence  of  Judah  is  expressly  noted;  meanwhile,  in 
the  last  verses  of  the  chapter,  others  of  Israel  besides  those 
of  the  tribes  of  Judah  and  Benjamin  are  mentioned  as 
being  present,  as  "  the  family  of  the  house  of  Levi," 
and  the  family  of  Shimei"  (or,  according  to  the  read- 
ing of  the  Septuagint,  "  the  family  of  Simeon.")  Kepre- 
sentatives  of  the  ten  tribes,  also,  are  there.  But  when 
is  it  that  God  will  make  Jerusalem  this  cup  of  trem- 
bling to  the  nations?  When  (8)  "  the  Lord  shall  defend  the 
inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  house  of  David  shall  be 
as  God,  as  the  angel  of  the  Lord  before  them;"  when  the 
house  of  David  shall  have  as  its  chief  representative,  visibly 
present,  the  incarnate  God,  Christ  in  His  second  coming, 
who  is  David,  the  Eternal  King. 

Nor,  as  it  would  seem,  will  it  be  more  than  a  very  few 
years  before  the  Lord's  coming,  that  this  restoration  of 
Israel  will  have  been  effected.  It  is  in  the  last  of  Daniel's 
Seventy  Weeks  that  they  are  presented  to  our  view  as 
nationally  established  in  their  own  land;  and  that  seven- 
tieth week  is  the  seven  years  immediately  preceding  the 
Advent.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  some 
several  years  may  be  required  before  the  beginning  of  that 
last  week,  in  order  to  their  regular  settlement  as  a  State.* 

*The  Futurist  theory  of  the  Apocalypse  regards  this  Book  as  a  "  Book 
of  the  Time  of  the  End  "—the  last  world-week— i.  e.,  the  70th  of  the  70 
weeks  of  Daniel,  the  whole  period  between  the  First  and  Second 
Advents  being  a  parenthesis  between  the  69th  and  70th  of  these  pro- 
phetic weeks.  In  this  last  week  Israel's  history  is  resumed  for  the  final 
tribulation  and  glory.  The  Jew  is  the  key  to  the  Apocalypse.  The  first 
three  and  one  half  years  of  this  world-week  are  occupied  with  the  rise 
of  Anti-christ;  the  second  three  and  one  half  with  the  fall  of  Anti- 
christ. The  albeit  critical  exposition  of  this  theory  is  by  Kliefot\ 
Qfferibarung  Johannis,  Leipzig,  1874.  See  also  Keil  on  Daniel,  Clarke's 
For.  and  Ev.  Library,  p.  337.  The  1,000  years  fallow  the  Destruction  of 
Anti-christ.  N.  W. 


230  SECOND  COMING  OF  CUEIST. 

2.  But  all  Israel  will  not  have  been  gathered  back  to 
their  land  before  the  Advent;  a  second  and  finally  complete 
movement  in  their  restoration  will  occur  subsequently  to 
that  great  event.  (Isa.  11: 11,  12,  15,  16): 

*  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day  that  the  Lord  shall  set  His 
hand  again  the  second  time  to  recover  the  remnant  of  His  people, 
which  shall  be  left,  from  Assyria,  and  from  Egypt,  and  from  Pathros, 
.and  from  Gush,  and  Elam,  and  from  Shinar,  and  from  Harnath,  and 
from  the  islands  of  the  sea.  And  He  shall  set  up  an  ensign  for  the 
nations,  and  shall  assemble  the  outcasts  of  Israel,  and  gather  together 
the  dispersed  of  Judah  from  the  four  corners  of  the  earth.  And  the 
Lord  shall  utterly  destroy  the  tongue  of  the  Egyptian  Sea;  and  with  His 
mighty  wind  shall  He  shake  His  hand  over  the  river,  and  shall  smite  it 
in  the  seven  streams,  and  make  men  go  over  dry-shod.  And  there  shall 
be  an  highway  for  the  remnant  of  His  people,  which  shall  be  left,  from 
Assyria ;  like  as  it  was  to  Israel  in  the  day  that  he  came  up  out  of  the 
Egypt." 

At  what  time  is  it  appointed  for  this  magnificent  descrip- 
tion of  Israel's  restoration  to  be  realized?  As  we  learn 
from  the  fourth  verse,  After  the  Lord  with  the  breath  of 
His  lips  shall  have  slain  the  Wicked  One.  Now  from  2 
Thess.  2:8,  we  learn  that  "the  Lord  shall  destroy  that 
Wicked  with  the  brightness  of  His  coming."  After  the 
coming,  then  shall  this  restoration  of  Israel  have  place. 

Again  (Isa.  66:20): 

"They  shall  bring  all  your  brethren  for  an  offering  unto  the  Lord,  out 
of  all  nations,  upon  horses,  and  in  chariots,  and  in  litters,  and  upon 
mules,  and  upon  swift  beasts,  to  my  holy  mountain,  Jerusalem,  saith 
the  Lord." 

When?  After  the  Lord  shall  have  "come  with  fire" 
(15),  and  after  He  shall  have  "  pleaded  by  fire  and  by  sword 
with  all  flesh,  and  the  slain  of  the  Lord  shall  be  many " 
(16).  Nay,  the  very  persons  who  shall  thus  bring  all  Israel 
out  of  all  nations,  are  those  who  escape  the  great  destruc- 
tion, which  the  Lord  at  His  coming  shall  infiict  on  the 
besieging  armies  around  Jerusalem,  and  whom  He  will 


THE  GATHERING  OF  ISRAEL.  231 

send  on  that  errand  back  from  Jerusalem  to  the  nations  (19). 
This  recovery  of  Israel,  then,  is  subsequent  to  the  Advent. 

Thus  there  will  be  two  distinct  stages  in  the  process  of 
their  gathering;  the  first,  before  the  great  Epiphany  of  the 
Lord  Jesus;  the  second,  after  it;  the  first,  partial;  the 
second,  complete.  How  utterly  vain  to  attempt  to  make 
the  passages  which  describe  this  second  gathering  apply  to 
the  return  from  the  Babylonish  captivity! 

III.  Particulars  of  the  first  gathering  : 

1.  The  number  of  them  will  be  considerable.     This  is 
indicated    by  the  immense  armies  which  Antichrist  will 
bring  together  for  the  siege  of  Jerusalem  (Joel  3:1,  2,  9, 
14).     But  also  Ezekiel  describes  the  land  as  being,  by  reason 
of  this  first  gathering  back  of  the  people,  a  land  of  villages, 
and  the  people  as  having  silver  and  gold,  and  cattle  and 
goods  (38:  11-13).     See  also  Isa.  2:  7. 

2.  They   will   be   gathered  back   in   their   unconverted 
state.      According  to  Zechariah    12:10,  it  will  be    only 
at    the  Lord's  coming    only   in    connection    with  u  their 
looking  upon  Him  whom  they  pierced,"  that  "  the  spirit 
of  grace  and  of  supplications  "  shall  be  poured  out  upon 
them.     Previous   to  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  therefore,  it 
will  be  still  as  rejectors  of  Christ  and  rebellious  to  God, 
that  they  will  occupy  their  land.     And  it  is  as  speaking  of 
them  at  that  very  time,  that  Isaiah  ascribes  to  them  pride 
and  haughtiness,  the  loftiness  of  the  cedar  of  Lebanon,  and 
the  stiff  sturdiness  of  the  oak  of  Bashan  (2.) 

3.  They  will  have  rebuilt  their  temple  and  re-established 
their  temple  services,  before  the  corning  of  the  Lord.    For, 
according  to  the  words  of  Jesus  in  the  twenty-fourth  of 
Matthew,  they  will  "  see  the  Son  of  Man  coming  in  the 
clouds  of  Heaven  with  power  and  great  glory,"  only  after 
"  the  Abomination  of  desolation,"  spoken  of  by  Daniel  the 
prophet,  shall  have  stood  "  in  the  holy  irfa<5e.w  OF  THJB  " 


SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


4.  The  object  of  their  gathering  is  ultimately  their  con- 
version, but  primarily,  their  chastisement  and  suffering. 
In  connection  with  the  setting  up  of  the  abomination  of 
desolation  in  the  temple,  Jesus  said  (Matt.  24)  : 

"  Then  shall  be  great  tribulation,  such  as  was  cot  since  the  begin- 
ning of  the  world  to  this  time,  no,  nor  ever  shall  be."  "Alas!  "  says 
God,  in  Jeremiah  (30:7),  "  for  that  day  is  great,  so  that  none  is  like  it; 
it  is  even  the  time  of  Jacob's  trouble."  "  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord 
God  (Ezek.  22  :  19-22),  because  ye  are  all  become  dross,  beho'd,  there- 
fore, I  will  gather  you  into  the  midst  of  Jerusalem.  As  they  gather 
silver,  and  brass,  and  iron,  and  lead,  and  tin,  into  the  midst  of  the  fur- 
nace, to  blow  the  fire  upon  it,  to  melt  it  ;  so  will  I  gather  you  in  mine 
anger  and  in  my  fury,  and  I  will  leave  you  there  and  melt  you.  Yea,  1 
will  gather  you,  and  blow  upon  you  in  the  fire  of  my  wrath,  and  ye 
shall  be  melted  in  the  midst  thereof.  As  silver  is  melted  in  the  midst 
of  the  furnace,  so  shall  ye  be  melted  in  the  midst  thereof;  and  ye  shall 
know  that  I  the  Lord  have  poured  out  my  fury  upon  you." 

5.  Their   terrible    sufferings,    when   ended,   will   have 
reduced  them  to  a  remnant.     "  Except  those  days  should 
be   shortened,"    said  Jesus  (Matt.  24),  "there  should  no 
flesh  (no  Israelites)  be  saved;  but  for  the  elect's  sake  those 
days  shall  be  shortened."     Those  elect  ones  will  be  but  a 
remnant.     Only  "  the  third  part  shall  be  brought  through 
the  fire,  and  be  refined  as  silver  is  refined."   (Zech.  13:  9.) 
This  elect  remnant,  spoken  of  so  frequently  by  the  prophets, 
is  not  to  be  confounded  with  "  the  remnant  according  to  the 
election  of  grace,"  spoken  of  in  Romans  11:  5.     That  elect 
remnant   consists   of  all  those  individuals  of  Israel  who- 
have,  or  will  have,  believed  in  Christ,  during  our  Christian 
dispensation,  and  who,  in  company  with  all  believers  from 
among  the  nations,  will  constitute,  together  with   the  true 
people  of  God  in  Old  Testament  times,  the  church  of  the 
glorified  at  the  time  of  the  Lord's  coming.     But  the  elect 
remnant  with  whom  we  now  have  to  do  is  the  comparatively 
few  of  Israel  who  will  have  survived,    in  their  own  land> 
the  terrors  of  the  great  day.     They  are  identical  with  the 


THE  GATHERING  OF  ISRAEL. 

"  hundred  and  forty  and  four  thousand  sealed  "  ones  of  the 
seventh  of  the  Kevelation.  For  those  sealed  ones  are  all 
Israelites,  it  being  expressly  said  that  they  are  taken  from 
among  "  the  tribes  of  the  children  of  Israel,"  and,  besides, 
the  twelve  tribes  being  all  enumerated  by  their  names,  as 
"  the  tribe  of  Judah,"  "  the  tribe  of  Keuben,"  "  the  tribe 
of  Gad,"  etc.  If  that  is  not  a  description  of  the  literal 
Israel,  then  is  there  no  way  of  certainly  identifying  them 
at  all?  I  stop  not  to  discuss  whether  the  number  of  the 
sealed  is  to  be  interpreted  literally  or  symbolically,  but,, 
however  interpreted,  that  there  are  only  twelve  thousand 
out  of  each  tribe  presents  the  idea  of  a  remnant.  And,  as 
it  is  said  they  are  sealed,  in  whatever  way  the  sealing  may 
be  done,  on  purpose  that  they  shall  be  discriminated  from 
others,  and  so  be  preserved  through  the  judgments  of  the 
awful  day;  be  brought  to  the  end  of,  and  beyond  those 
fiery  sufferings  of  their  people  and  themselves  on  the  occa- 
sion of  the  Lord's  Advent.  Thus  they  are  precisely  the 
elect  remnant  of  whom  the  Old  Testament  so  often  speaks. 
And  preserved  they  will  have  been,  when  the  dread  grand- 
eurs of  that  Epiphany  from  heaven  shall  have  passed. 
There  they  stand  in  their  Divine  deliverance,  God's  chosen 
Israel,  a  wondrous  company. 

6.  And  now  comes  to  pass  their  conversion  to  God. 
"  They  will  have  witnessed  the  terrors  of  the  reign  of  Anti- 
christ, will  have  seen  the  plagues  of  the  Kevelation  poured 
out  upon  the  nations  under  his  control,  will  have  beheld 
the  heavens  darkened,  the  Lord  descend  in  glory,  the  graves 
open,  the  saints  taken,  the  Day  of  the  Lord  come  upon 
Jerusalem,  the  heavens  and  the  earth  shaken.  They  will 
see,  and  yet  find  themselves  protected  through  all  these 
things."  [B.  W.  Newton.]  "  They  will  look  on  Him  whom 
they  have  pierced."  God  will  pour  upon  them  "  the  spirit  of 
grace  and  supplications;  "  they  shall  mourn  for  their  sins; 


234  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

and  "  there  shall  be  a  fountain  opened  to  them  for  sin  and  for 
uncleanness."  They  will  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  they  shall  be  forgiven;  and  not  forgiven  only,  but 
accepted  in  all  the  preciousness  of  that  Name  which  they 
and  their  nation  had  rejected  and  abhorred. 

IV.   Particulars   of    the    gathering   subsequent  to   the 
Advent: 

1.  It  will  be  effected  by  both  human  and  divine  agency. 
Partly  by  human.     (Isa.  49:  22,  23;  66: 19,  20.)     Partly  by 
Divine.     (Isa.  11:15,  16.)     In  this  latter  circumstance  it 
will  contrast  with  the  first  gathering,  for  it  is  the  unvarying 
implication  of  Scripture  that  Israel's  recovery   before  the 
Advent  will  come  about  in  a  natural  and  ordinary  way.  As 
has  been  said  by  a  late  writer  (Molyneux),  "  India  will  be 
parceled  out  of  the  world's  map,  by  common  consent,  for 
the  occupation  of  its  ancient  possessors.     The  conviction 
of  its  expediency,  and  the  stroke  of  a  pen,  on  the  part  of  one  or 
two  of  the  leading  Continental  powers,  and  the  deed  would  be 
done."     Even  now  we  may  almost  speak  of  England's  pro- 
tectorate of  the  Holy  Land.     God's  providence  is  moving 
apace,  and  evidently  is  rapidly  nearing  the  crisis  of  Israel's 
first  recovery.     But  their  second  restoration  will  be  effected 
as  well  by  miracle  as  by  human  agency. 

2.  In  this  second  gathering,  as  in  the  first,  returning 
Israel  will  as  yet  be  unconverted.     (Ezek.  36:  24-38.) 

3.  Immediately  upon  their   restoration,  however,  they 
will  be  converted.     See  Ezekiel  as  above.     Also  the  Better 
Covenant.     (Jer.  31:31-34.)     "And  so,"  exclaims  Paul, 
46  all  Israel  shall  be  saved."     Then  it  is  that  that  glorious 
anthem,  the  twelfth  of  Isaiah,  will  peal  from  the  lips  of  an 
entirely  converted  nation. 

4.  And  Israel's  land  in  that  day  shall  answer  back  to  the 
gospel  holiness  of  its  inhabitants.     In  extent  it  will  be 
according  to  the  covenant  with  Abraham  (Gen.   15  : 18), 


THE  GATHERING  OF  ISRAEL.  235 

wherein  the  Lord  said,  "  Unto  thy  seed  have  I  given  this 
land,  from  the  river  of  Egypt  unto  the  great  river,  the 
river  Euphrates."  As  to  fertility  and  beauty, "  The  wilder- 
ness and  solitary  place  shall  be  glad  for  them,  and  the 
desert  shall  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose.  It  shall  blos- 
som abundantly,  and  rejoice  even  with  joy  and  singing. 
In  the  wilderness  shall  waters  break  out,  and  streams  in 
the  desert."  (Isa.  35.)  "Instead  of  the  thorn  shall  come 
up  the  fir  tree,  and  instead  of  the  brier  shall  come  up  the 
myrtle  tree."  (Isa.  55.)  "  The  mountains  shall  drop  down 
new  wine,  and  the  hills  shall  flow  with  milk,  and  all  the 
rivers  of  Judah  shall  flow  with  waters,  and  a  fountain  shall 
come  forth  of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  shall  water  the 
Valley  of  Shittim."  (Joel  3: 18.)  "The  plowman  shall 
overtake  the  reaper,  and  the  treader  of  grapes  him  that 
soweth  seed."  (Amos  9: 13.)  As  to  universal  harmony: 
"  The  wolf,  also,  shall  dwell  with  the  lamb,  and  the  leopard 
shall  lie  down  with  the  kid,  and  the  calf,  and  the  young  lion, 
and  the  fatling  together;  and  a  little  child  shall  lead  them. 
And  the  cow  and  the  bear  shall  feed,  their  young  ones  shall 
lie  down  together;  and  the  lion  shall  eat  straw  like  the  ox. 
And  the  sucking  child  shall  play  on  the  hole  of  the  asp, 
and  the  weaned  child  shall  put  his  hand  on  the  cockatrice's 
den.  They  shall  not  hurt  nor  destroy  in  all  my  holy 
mountain;  for  the  earth  (land?)  shall  be  full  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  Lord,  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea."  (Isa.  11: 
6-9.)  And  as  to  duration,  God  said  to  Abraham,  "  1  will 
give  to  thee  and  to  thy  seed  after  thee  all  the  land  of  Canaan, 
for  an  everlasting  possession."  (Gen.  IT:  8.)  "Thou  shalt 
no  more  be  termed  Forsaken,"  says  God  to  the  holy  inhab- 
itants, "  neither  shall  thy  land  any  more  be  termed  Desolate; 
but  thou  shalt  be  called  Hephzibah,  and  thy  land  Beulah; 
for  the  Lord  delighteth  in  thee,  and  thy  land  shall  be 
married."  (Isa.  62:  A.) 


236  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST, 

5.  The  spiritual  blessings  of  millennial  Israel  will  be  the 
same  as  are  ours  now.     They  will  be  sons  of  God  (Hosea 
1: 10);  so  are  all  Christians  now.     They  will  be  under  the 
mediatorship — sacrifice  and  priesthood — of  the  New  Cov- 
enant (Jer.  31:31;  Heb.  8:6);  so  are  we.     They  will  please 
God,  and  therefore  must  have  been  brought  into   living 
union  with  Christ,  through  the  Spirit,  even  as  we,  for  "  they 
that  are  in  the  flesh  (unregenerate)  can  not  please  God." 
(Horn.  8:  8.)     They  will  say  to  Him,  "  The  Lord  our  right- 
eousness "  (Jer.  23:  6);  so  do  we.     They  will  be  raised  in 
His  likeness,  at  the  last  resurrection,  in  virtue  of  being  in 
Him;  we  shall  similarly  be  raised  at  the  first  resurrection, 
in  virtue  of  being  in  Him.  (1  Cor.  15.)     At  the  same  time, 
however,  the  imprisonment  of  Satan  and  his  angels,  the 
presence  of  the  visible  glory  of  Christ  and  His  saints,  His 
investiture   with  the  sovereignty  of  earth,  the   release  of 
creation  from  its  groan,  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
upon  all  flesh,  these  and  other  like  things  will  give  to  the 
millennial  age  a  glorious  difference  and  superiority,  as  con- 
trasted with  our  present  age. 

6.  Great  and  exalted  will  be  millennial  Israel's  position 
and  influence  in  the  earth.     "  And  thou,  O  tower  of   the 
flock,  the  strong  hold  of  the  daughter  of  Zion,  unto  thee 
shall  it  come,  even  the  first  dominion ; .  the   Kingdom  shall 
come  to  the  daughter  of  Jerusalem."  (Micah  4:  8.)     u  Thou 
shalt  also  be  a  crown  of  glory  in  the  hand  of  the  Lord,  and 
a   royal  diadem  in  the  hand  of  thy  God."     (Isa.    62:3.) 
"  At  that  time  they  shall  call  Jerusalem  the  Throne  of  the 
Lord,  and  all  the  nations  shall  be  gathered   unto  it,  to  the 
name  of  the  Lord,  to  Jerusalem."   (Jer.  3:17.)     u  Out  of 
Zion  shall  go  forth  the  law,  and  the  word  of  the  Lord  from 
Jerusalem."  (Isa.  2:3.)     "He  shall  cause  them  that  come 
of  Jacob  to  take  root:    Israel  shall  blossom  and  bud,  and 
fill  the  lace  of  the  world   with  fruit."    (Isa.   27:6.)     The 


THE  GATHERING  OF  ISRAEL.  237 

children  of  Jerusalem  shall  be  made  princes  in  all  the  earth 
(Ps.  45:16),  and  the  nations  shall  at  last  be  regulated 
according  to  God. 

I  have  said  nothing  of  the  relations  of  millennial  Israel 
to  the  Church  of  the  glorified.  But  I  must  close.  "What 
a  vast  subject  we  have  been  surveying,  yet  only  as  by  light- 
ning glances!  How  strong  the  proof,  from  God's  Holy 
"Word,  of  these  gatherings  of  Israel!  And  have  we  not 
confirmation  superabounding,  in  the  miraculous  preserva- 
tion of  that  people  through  well  nigh  a  score  of  centuries 
of  transcendent  sufferings? 

Can  the  world  show  anything  like  it?  Twice  1,800  years 
old,  they  saw  the  proud  Egyptian  perish  in  the  waters  of 
the  Red  Sea;  they  heard  the  fall  of  great  Babylon's  power; 
they  witnessed  the  ruins  of  the  Syro-Macedonian  conquests. 
And  now  they  have  outlived  the  Csesars,  and  outlived  the 
dark  ages.  They  have  been  through  all  civilizations,  shared 
in  all  convulsions,  and  have  kept  pace  with  the  entire  progress 
of  discovery  and  art.  And  here  they  stand  to-day,  as  dis- 
tinct as  ever,  occupying  no  country  of  their  own,  scattered 
through  all  countries,  identical  in  their  immemorial  phys- 
iognomy, earth's  men  of  destiny,  before  the  venerableness 
of  whose  pedigree  the  proudest  scutcheons  of  mankind  are 
but  as  trifles  of  yesterday.  But  have  they  suffered  severely  ? 
One  convulsive  groan  of  agony  breathing  through  eighteen 
centuries,  and  heard  in  every  land  but  our  own.  At  the 
siege  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus,  besides  the  tens  of  thousands 
led  into  captivity,  it  was  as  if  in  a  single  action  of  a  great  war 
the  slain  on  one  side  should  amount  to  1,300,000;  and  when, 
the  remaining  Jews  having  been  expelled  from  their  country, 
they  attempted,  sixty  years  afterward,  to  return,  a  half 
million  more  were  slaughtered.  For  centuries  they  were 
forbidden,  on  pain  of  death,  even  to  set  foot  in  Jerusalem. 
Under  King  John  of  England,  1,500  were  massacred  at 


238  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

York  in  one  day.  Under  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  800,000, 
by  a  single  decree,  were  forced  out  to  sea  in  boats,  and  the 
most  of  them  perished  in  the  waves.  They  have  been  fined 
and  fleeced  by  almost  every  government  known  to  history. 
They  have  been  banished  from  place  to  place;  banished  and 
recalled,  and  banished  again.  By  the  Code  of  Justinian, 
they  were  incapable  of  executing  wills,  of  testifying  in 
courts  of  justice,  of  having  social  and  public  worship.  The 
Koran  of  Mahomet  stigmatized  them  as  wild  dogs;  the 
Romish  Church  excommunicated  any  one  who  held  inter- 
course with  them;  the  Greek  Church  uttered  anathemas 
still  more  severe.  They  have  been  forced  to  dissemble  to 
save  their  lives,  and  in  Spain  and  Portugal  have  even 
become  bishops,  and  have  governed  in  convents.  In  the 
prophetic  words  of  the  Old  Testament,  they  have  been  "  a 
reproach  and  a  proverb,  a  taunt  and  a  curse;"  they  have 
been  "  taken  up  in  the  lips  of  talkers,"  and  have  been  "  an 
infamy  of  the  people;"  and  the  general  estimate  of  them 
has  ripened  into  the  intense  contempt  of  that  dramatic  con- 
ception— Shy  lock,  the  Jew  of  Yen  ice.  And  now  in  this 
nineteenth  century  they  are  a  suffering  people  still,  but  still 
as  indissoluble  as  ever. 

But  now  all  this  is  not  according  to  the  established  course 
of  nations.  The  northern  tribes  came  into  Southern 
Europe,  and  are  now  not  at  all  distinguishable.  No 
Englishman  can  say  that  he  derives  from  the  Britons  and 
not  from  the  Romans,  or  from  the  Saxons  and  not  from  the 
Normans.  On  the  contrary,  the  Jew  is  a  Jew  still.  Even 
our  own  all-appropriating  country,  which  denationalizes 
Germans,  Irish,  French,  Spaniards,  Finns,  Swedes,  has  left 
untouched  this  wondrous  people.  Here  they  are,  holding 
fast  to  that  one  tell-tale  face,  keeping  up  the  sacred  learning 
of  their  traditions,  self-conscious  in  their  isolation,  irre- 
pressible in  their  love  of  Jerusalem,  sublime  in  their  sin- 


THE  GATHERING  OF  ISRAEL.  239 

guJar  patriotism,  evermore  looking  and  longing  for  their 
Messiah,  the  same  intense  individuality  as  when,  lord  of  the 
soil,  he  plucked  his  olives  from  the  trees  of  Judea.  And, 
what  is  more,  these  world  wanderers  of  the  centuries,  these 
tribes  of  the  weary  foot,  have  not  only  survived,  but  have 
now  risen  again  as  an  element  of  power  among  mankind. 
The  Jew  is  the  banker  of  the  world ;  he  is  among  the  fore- 
most, whether  in  science,  or  literature,  or  government.  In 
witchery  of  song  unsurpassed,  he  enchants  the  world  with 
some  of  the  sweetest  music  it  ever  heard.  Surely  he  is  the 
standing  miracle  of  the  world's  current  history;  the  bush 
of  Moses,  ever  burning,  yet  never  consumed;  an  ocular 
demonstration  of  how  God  may  energize  the  secret  springs 
of  a  people's  life,  yet  without  disturbing  individual  freedom 
or  social  characteristics;  an  unanswerable  refutation  of  that 
godless  philosophy  which  would  turn  the  Almighty  out  of 
His  own  universe.  And  for  what  have  they  thus  been  borne 
in  the  hands  of  God,  all  along  the  ages?  Beyond  a  peradven- 
ture,  if  so  literally  have  been  fulfilled  the  prophecies  which 
foretold  their  sufferings  and  their  preservation,  equally  sure 
are  the  predicted  grandeurs  of  their  future. 

But  let  us  not  take  leave  of  our  subject  without  making 
application  of  these  two  thoughts.  First,  it  will  be,  as  we 
have  seen,  their  own  true  faith  in  the  cleansing  blood  of 
Christ  that  shall  open  to  them  the  golden  gates  of  their 
millennial  nationality.  On  what  a  flood  of  illustration  i& 
thus  brought  to  our  own  hearts  the  exact  truth  of  that  Scrip- 
ture, "He  that  believeth  shall  be  saved,  he  that  believeth 
not  shall  be  damned."  Have  we  now  that  faith? 

Secondly,  pray  for  the  peace  of  Jerusalem.  "For  if  the 
casting  away  of  them  be  the  reconciling  of  the  world,  what 
shall  the  receiving  of  them  be  but  life  from  the  dead?" 
(Horn.  11: 15);  life  from  the  dead  in  the  resurrection  bodies 
of  the  saints,  since  then  shall  occur  the  first  resurrection 


240  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

(Isa.  25:  8,  and  1  Cor.  15:  54),  and  life  from  the  dead  in  the 
spiritual  quickening  of  the  nations.  Oh,  this  restoration 
of  Israel  is  the  very  centre  of  God's  gracious  purposes 
concerning  the  world.  "For  Zion's  sake  will  He  not  hold 
His  peace,  and  for.  Jerusalem's  sake  He  will  not  rest,  until 
the  righteousness  thereof  go  forth  as  brightness,  and  the 
salvation  thereof  as  a  lamp  that  burneth."  Therefore,  "Ye 
that  make  mention  of  the  Lord,  keep  not  silence,  and  give 
Him  no  rest  till  He  establisheth,  and  till  He  make  Jerusa- 
lem a  praise  in  the  earth  "  (Isa.  62: 1,  6,  7). 


"  THE  JUDGMENT,  OR  JUDGMENTS. 


«  THE  JUDGMENT,  OK  JUDGMENTS." 

BY  THE  REV.  DR.  J.   T.  COOPER,   OP  THE    UNITED  PRESBYTERIAN   SEM- 
INARY, ALLEGHENY,  PENN. 

I  HAVE  been  requested  to  give  expression  to  my  views  on 
a  topic  the  very  mention  of  which  ought  to  awaken  in  the 
heart  a  most  profound  feeling  of  awe,  namely:  The  Judg- 
ment, or  Judgments.  The  importance  and  solemnity  of 
the  subject  have  almost  deterred  me  from  engaging  in  its 
discussion,  yet  I  attempt  it  with  the  conviction  that  it  is 
our  duty,  with  diligence  and  reverence,  to  study  and  to 
confer  with  each  other  on  the  events  of  unfulfilled  proph- 
ecy; for,  in  the  words  of  Dr.  Yan  Oosterzee,  Professor  of 
Theology  in  the  University  of  Utrecht,  "  the  stammering 
language  of  faith  is  preferable  to  the  powerless  silence  of 
unbelief." 

In  my  inquiries  on  this  subject  I  have  sought  to  be 
guided  by  the  Word  of  God  and  by  that  alone.  Isaac  Tay- 
lor has  well  said,  in  his  "Natural  History  of  Enthusiasm," 
u  Christianity  being,  as  it  is,  a  religion  of  documents  and 
interpretation,  must  utterly  exclude  from  its  precincts  the 
adventurous  spirit  of  innovation."  If  this  be  true  of  every 
subject  embraced  in  the  Christian  religion,  how  pre-emi- 
nently true  is  it  of  the  one  before  us  for  examination  ?  Here, 
surely,  it  becomes  reason  to  step  aside  and  give  place  to 
faith.  She  may,  indeed,  give  us  some  hints  of  a  judgment 
to  come,  as  she  does  of  the  awful  fact  that  we  live  under  a 
retributive  government,  and  that  cognizance  is  taken  of  our 
actions  by  an  invisible  and  ever-present  being,  whose  attri- 
butes render  Him  the  determined  foe  of  vice  and  the  stead- 
fast upholder  of  righteousness.  Experience  and  observation 
16 


242  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

show  that  there  is  no  accurate  proportion  at  present  main- 
tained between  conduct  and  condition — that  the  wicked 
often  triumph  in  their  iniquity,  while  virtue  is  despised; 
her  humble  votaries  borne  down  by  the  gloom  of  adversity, 
or  reared  in  the  midst  of  sorrows  and  tears.  These  facts, 
taken  in  connection  with  the  foregoing  suggestions  of  rea- 
son, seem  to  justify  the  conclusion  that  a  crisis  is  before  our 
world  in  which  there  will  be  a  glorious  vindication  of  the 
justice  of  the  moral  Governor  of  the  Universe,  or,  in  other 
words,  a  last  judgment.  But,  while  it  becomes  us  thus  far 
to  listen  to  the  voice  of  reason,  she  has  nothing  to  say  as  to 
the  mode  of  God's  procedure  in  this  judgment,  the  time  of 
its  occurrence  and  the  circumstances  or  events  connected 
with  it.  For  information  on  these  topics,  as  well  as  for  a 
confirmation  of  the  fact  itself,  we  must  look  to  the  Word  of 
God,  and  to  that  word  alone.  Let  us,  then,  with  reverence, 
open  this  word  and  hear  what  it  has  to  say  on  this  all-im- 
portant theme. 

I.  What  do  the  Scriptures  teach  us  in  relation  to  the 
import  of  the  word  judgment  or  judgments,  viewed  as  an 
act  or  series  of  acts  performed  by  the  God  of  Heaven  ?  It 
is  a  matter  of  importance  that  we  have  Scriptural"  ideas  on 
this  subject.  In  answer  to  the  question  just  propounded, 
the  following  facts  are  clearly  indicated: 

1.  The  word  is  sometimes  used  where  the  prominent  idea 
is  that  of  rule  or  government.  Thus  we  speak  of  the 
"Judges  of  Israel"  as  Gideon,  Sampson,  Jephtha,  Samuel, 
etc.  Of  each  of  these  persons  it  is  said  "  he  judged 
Israel."  Here  the  idea  of  rule  or  government  must  be 
regarded  as  prominent,  with,  perhaps,  a  special  reference 
to  the  condition  of  those  judged  as  exposed  to  enemies. 
When  Israel  wanted  a  king  they  said:  "We  will  have  a 
king  over  us,  that  we  also  may  be  like  all  the  nations;  and 
that  our  king  may  judge  us  and  fight  our  battles."  In  Acts 


"  THE  JUDGMENT,  OR  JUDGMENTS."  243 

10:4-2;  2  Tim.  4:1,  and  1  Pet.  4:5,  Christ  is  said  to  be 
"  Judge  of  quick  and  dead."  Compare  these  with  Kom. 
14:  0,  where  He  is  called  "the  Lord  both -of  the  dead  and 
the  living."  In  Psalms  72:1-4,  the  Messiah  is  spoken  of 
as  one  who  should  "judge  Thy  people  with  righteousness, 
and  Thy  poor  with  judgments."  And  again,  "  He  shall 
judge  the  poor  of  the  people,  He  shall  save  the  children  of 
the  needy,  and  shall  break  in  pieces  the  oppressor."  These 
passages,  and  they  are  only  specimens  of  what  might  be 
adduced,  clearly  show  that  the  word  judgment  is  employed 
in  the  Scriptures  not  simply  to  denote  a  single  act  in  which 
a  sentence  is  passed  upon  a  culprit,  either  in  the  way  of 
acquittal  or  condemnation,  but  a  series  of  acts  in  which  are 
involved  the  exercise  of  lordship  in  the  way  of  ruling,  gov- 
erning, saving,  vindicating,  protecting  and  taking  ven- 
geance. These  ideas  are  doubtless  included  in  such 
expressions  as  the  following  in  the  Psalms: 

41  Arise,  O  God,  judge  the  earth ;  for  Thou  shalt  inherit  the  nations." 
(Psalms  72 : 8.)  "  For  He  cometh,  for  He  cometh  to  judge  the  earth: 
He  shall  judge  the  world  with  righteousness  and  the  people  with  His 
truth."  (Psalms  96 : 13.) 

2.  In  harmony  with  the  foregoing,  the  term  judgment  is 
sometimes  employed  to  express  those  dealings  of  God  with 
the  children  of  men  in  which  there  will  be  a  revelation  of 
their  fixed  character  and  a  determination  of  their  everlast- 
ing destiny.  In  the  language  of  the  author  of  Christian 
Dogmatics,  we  may  say:  "That  the  history  of  the  world 
is  a  continued  judgment  of  the  world,"  is  acknowledged  by 
all  who  attentively  and  believingly  observe  it.  But  it  is 
equally  manifest,  that  it  can  by  no  means  yet  be  termed  a 
final  judgment,  although  it  is  unceasingly  preparing  the 
way  for  this  last.  This  awfully  momentous  fact  has  been 
made  the  subject  of  repeated  prophetic  announcements. 
Jude,  ver.  14,  by  the  spirit  of  inspiration,  lets  us  know 


244  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

that  "  Enoch,  the  seventh  from  Adam  prophesied.  Behold 
the  Lord  cometh  with  ten  thousand  of  His  saints  to  execute 
judgment  upon  all."'  Here  we  have  at  least  the  culmina- 
tion of  all  past  judgments.  The  Apostle  Peter  in  Acts  10 : 
42,  speaks  of  the  judgment  not  only  of  the  "quick"  or 
living,  but  of  the  "  dead,"  language  which  carries  us  for- 
ward to  a  final  day  of  reckoning.  The  Apostle  Paul,  in 
Acts  17:31,  speaks  of  "a  day  in  which  God  will  judge  the 
world  "  (ten  oikoumenen,  the  inhabited  world).  To  this 
day,  doubtless,  he  refers,  in  Acts  24:  25,  as  "  the  judgment  to 
come."  This  day  of  judgment  to  come  is  no  doubt  to  be 
identified  with  that  which,  in  almost  all  the  prophetic 
writings,  is  spoken  of  as  "the  day  of  the  Lord."  Not, 
indeed,  that  judgment  is  the  only  scene  which  that  day  is 
to  disclose;  but  it  will  doubtless  constitute  one  of  its  char- 
acteristic features.  The  impression  must  be  made  upon  the 
mind  of  every  reader  of  the  foregoing  passages  that  this 
"day  of  judgment "  is  to  be  final  to  the  party  or  parties 
judged.  There  are  two  passages,  at  least,  which  unmistak- 
ably indicate  this  awful  fact.  One  of  these  is  Matt.  25: 
31-46,  in  which  such  sentences  are  pronounced  by  "  the 
King,"  who  sits  upon  His  throne,  as  fix  the  eternal  destiny 
of  the  two  great  parties  there  referred  to  under  the  name 
of  "  sheep  "  and  "  goat."  That  scene  ends  the  matter  for- 
ever with  each  of  these  classes,  exalting  the  one  to  the 
possession  of  a  kingdom,  and  dooming  the  other  to  "  ever- 
lasting fire,  prepared  for  the  Devil  and  his  angels."  The 
other  passage  is  Eev.  20:11-15,  where  the  "dead,  small 
and  great,"  are  said  to  "  stand  before  God,"  and  "  the  dead 
were  judged  out  of  those  things  which  were  written  in  the 
books,  according  to  their  works."  We  are  further  told  that 
<<  whosoever  was  not  found  written  in  the  book  of  life  was 
cast  into  the  lake  of  fire  "  a  lake  from  which  the  Word  of 
God  tells  us  of  no  recovery.  Here  the  scene  ends. 


"THE  JUDGMENT,  OR  JUDGMENTS:1  245 

This  final  judgment  involves,  to  use  the  language  of  Dr. 
Yan  Oosterzee,  u  the  manifestation  of  that  which  has  been 
done  for  ages  concealed,  and  jet  could  not  fail  ultimately  to 
become  manifest;  the  separation  of  that  which  was  here, 
for  wise  reasons,  combined  for  a  time,  but  which  was  never 
inwardly  united,  and  therefore  can  not  always  remain 
together;  the  final  retribution  both  of  the  greatest  and  the 
least  thing  which  was  done  or  left  undone  here  on  earth, 
with  an  impartial  justice,  which  in  itself  leaves  no  room  for 
the  thought  of  an  appeal  to  a  higher  tribunal." 

II.  To  whom  does  the  work   of  judgment  belong?     I 
answer,  it  is  to  none  other  than  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the 
God-man  Redeemer.     This  matter  is  indisputably  settled 
by  the  Spirit  of  God,  in  the  fifth  chapter  of  the  Gospel 
according  to  John.     Two  actions  in  that  chapter  are  ascribed 
to  our  Lord.     One  of  these,  namely,  that  of  raising  the  dead, 
He  is  said  to  perform  in  conjunction  with  the  Father.     Thus 
it  is  said  in  verse  twenty-first:     "As  the  Father  raiseth  up 
the  dead  and  quickeneth  them,  even  so  the  Son  quickeneth 
whom  He  will."     The  other  action,  ascribed  to  Him  in  the 
next  verse,  is  that  of  judging;  but  this  is  declared  to  be 
His  work  to  the  exclusion  of  the  Father.     See  how  explicit 
is  the  statement  there:  "  For  the  Father  judge th  no  man, 
but  hath  committed  all  judgment  unto  the  Son."     The  rea- 
sons for  this  are  given  in  verses  23  and  27.     It  is  a  matter 
of  special  importance  to  mark  the  carefulness  with  which 
the  Scriptures  keep  this  fact  before  us.     See  Matt.  25 :  31-46 ; 
Acts  17:31;  2  Cor.  5: 10,  etc. 

III.  How  long  shall  the  work  of  judgment  last?     I  shall 
give  the  answer  to  this  question  in  the  words  of  James 
Glasgow,  D.D.,    "  Irish  General  Assembly's  Professor  of 
Oriental   Languages;    late  Fellow    of    the    University  of 
Bombay,  and  late  member  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society, 
Bombay."     Being  a  decided  post-millennarian,  he  can  not 


246  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

be  supposed  to  be  influenced  by  any  leading  toward  pre- 
millenniarianisra  in  the  remarks  which  I  am  about  to  quote. 
In  "  The  Apocalypse  Translated  and  Expounded"  he  thus 
expresses  himself  on  page  511: 

"Various  views  of  the  final  judgment  are  presented  in  the  Bible  as  to 
time  and  circumstances.  It  is  a  day  (John  6 :  39) ;  a  time  (1  Cor.  4 :  5 ;  1 
Peter  1:5);  a  personal  inspection  of  a  flock  (Matt.  25:31);  a  harvest 
(Matt.  13:  39,  11,  12);  and  in  this  vision  a  census,  according  to  the  sta- 
tistic evidence  of  books.  The  'hour'  of  the  Lord's  coming  is  also 
repeatedly  mentioned.  Now  in  the  text  there  is  nothing  said  whatever 
as  to  the  length  of  time  to  be  occupied ;  but  popular  thinkers,  with  a 
presumption  equal  to  their  ignorance — a  sinful  presumption — fix  it  down 
to  a  human  day  of  twenty-four  or  twelve  hours.  Learned  theologians, 
expositors,  and  enlightened  preachers  are  more  cautious.  Of  these  I 
can  not  find  one  (and  I  have  searched  libraries)  makingthe  time  a  human 
day  or  any  brief  human  period.  In  various  other  places  of  Scripture 
besides  prophetic  visions,  a  day  means,  according  to  the  radical  sense  of 
the  word,  a  period,  as  when  Paul  calls  the  Gospel  age  a  day  of  salvation. 
(2  Cor.  6 : 2.)  The  other  terms — a  season,  a  harvest,  etc., — render  a  human 
day  impossible;  and  it  appears  equally  impossible  when  we  consider 
the  work  and  the  means.  Angels  are  employed  to  sever  the  righteous 
from  among  the  wicked.  (Matt.  13: 41.)  While  Jesus  could  do  it  all  in 
a  moment,  and  without  any  instruments,  such  is  not  the  divine  arrange- 
ment.  But  the  angels,  or  saints,  honored  as  instruments,  could  not  do 
their  work  without  adequate  time.  To  separate  the  righteous  from  the 
wicked,  which  Christ  informs  us  He  will  seud  forth  His  messengers  to 
do,  they  must  see  and  know  all  men,  and  be  made  acquainted  with  their 
characters  individually,  recognizing  those  who  have  the  image  of 
Christ,  and  removing  those  who  want  it.  To  do  this,  they  will  receive 
divine  guidance ;  but  their  doing  of  it  must  be  to  them  a  work  of  what  in 
human  affairs  would  be  reckoned  a  long  time.  And  if  we  rightly  con- 
sider what  is  here  said  of  the  books,  it  can  not  fail  to  bring  us  to  the 
same  conclusion." 

Again,  on  page  514,  he  says:  "There  seems  much  more  rationality 
in  the  interpretation  given  by  Mode,  that  the  time  of  judgment  is  a 
thousand  human  years,  than  in  that  of  those  who,  without  a  shred  of 
Scriptural  authority,  restrict  it  to  a  human  day,  or  some  such  little  span 
of  secular  time.  *  One  day,'  says  Peter,  '  is  with  the  Lord  as  a  thousand 
years.'  Whitby  quibbles  idly  about  the  word  '  as.'  The  very  minimum 
of  meaning  that  can  be  taken  from  this  is,  that  a  day  in  God's  reckon, 
ing  of  His  own  works  is  as  a  thousand  years  of  human  reckoning." 


"  THE  JUDGMENT,  OR  JUDGMENTS."      247 

I  accord  with  the  view  expressed  in  the  foregoing  extract 
from  the  commentary  of  this  distinguished  professor  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Ireland.  It  seems  to  me  that 
it  is  in  perfect  accord  with  the  Scriptures  to  represent  the 
whole  of  the  millennial  dispensation  as  "  the  last  day,"  "  the 
day  of  the  Lord,"  and  "  the  day  of  judgment,"  just  as  the 
present  dispensation  is  called  "the  day  of  salvation."  (1 
Cor.  6:6.)  One  of  the  distinguishing  features  of  "  that 
day  "  is  judgment.  It  opens  with  judgment,  it  has  judg- 
ment running  through  it  and  it  closes  with  the  judgment 
of  the  great  white  throne.  The  Parousia  or  coming  of 
the  Lord  introduces  that  day,  but  there  is  no  authority  for 
confounding  it  with  it,  and  it  should  by  no  means  be  done. 

IY.  Who,  according  to  the  Scriptures,  are  the  persons  or 
parties  judged?  These  1  shall  proceed  to  specify. 

We  have  the  judgment  of  Christians  or  true  believers. 
To  this  the  Apostle  refers  in  2  Cor.  5:  10:  "  For  we  must 
all  appear  before  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ,  that  every 
one  may  receive  the  things  done  in  his  body,  according  to 
that  he  hath  done,  whether  it  be  good  or  bad."  This  pas- 
sage has  been  regarded  by  both  pre-millenriarians  and  post- 
millennarians  as  indicating  simply  a  general  judgment 
without  reference  to  any  particular  class  of  persons.  My 
opinion  is  that  the  Apostle  here  has  an  exclusive  reference 
to  believers.  The  following  are  my  reasons: 

1.  The  use  of  the  personal  pronouns  in  this  chapter. 
See  the  verses  preceding  the  one  before  us.  It  is  utterly 
impossible  to  find  other  than  believers  in  those  verses. 
There  is  such  a  thing  (and  is  it  not  a  precious  thought?)  as 
the  family  pronouns  of  believers.  They  are  "  We,"  "  Us  " 
and  "  Our."  Rarely  does  the  Spirit  use  these  pronouns  in 
a  larger  sense  as  including  unbelievers.  When  this  is  done 
the  reference  is  so  plain  that  there  is  no  danger  of  mistak- 
ing it. 


248  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

2.  Nothing  is  said  expressly  in  this  passage  of  judgment, 
but  simply  of  their  manifestation  before  the  seat  of  Christ. 

(j>avepcjd?]vai  6ei  eftirpocBev  rov  fifaaToc  rov  Xptorov,  1.  £.,       '    We    must    all 

be  made  manifest  before  the  seat  of  Christ."  Hence  there 
is  in  the  passage  nothing  which  requires  us  to  understand 
the  reference  of  the  Apostle  to  be  to  others  than  believers. 

A  passage  very  similar  to  the  one  we  have  been  consid- 
ering is  found  in  Rom.  14:  10 — "We  shall  all  stand  before 
the  judgment  seat  of  Christ."  This  passage,  however,  is 
no  stronger  than  the  other.  They  both  imply  nothing 
more  than  that  the  conduct  of  believers  will  be  brought 
under  review  at  the  last  day — "  that  every  one  of  us  shall 
give  an  account  of  himself  to  God."  There  is  then  to  be 
a  judgment  of  believers. 

As  to  the  nature  of  this  judgment,  it  can  not,  con- 
sistently with  the  Scriptures,  be  regarded  as  involving  a 
judicial  trial  or  investigation  of  their  claim  or  title  to 
eternal  life.  That  question  was  forever  settled  for  the 
believers  at  the  cross,  and,  actually  and  formally  determined 
by  the  Judge  of  all  when  he  believed  on  the  Lord  Jesns 
Christ.  Eternal  life  was  not  held  out  to  the  believer  as 
something  to  be  realized  in  the  future,  but  as  a  blessing  of 
which  he  became  possessed  the  moment  his  faith  rested 
upon  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  was  the  solemn  declara- 
tion of  the  Master — "  He  that  believeth  on  Me  hath  ever- 
lasting life."  (John  6:  47.)  Nor  is  this  all.  We  find  Him 
saying  in  John  5:  24:  "  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  he 
that  heareth  My  word  and  believeth  on  Him  that  sent  Me, 
hath  everlasting  life,  and  shall  not  come  into  condemnation 
(or  judgment,  as  the  world  means),  but  is  passed  from  death 
unto  life."  The  word  $piaif  in  our  version,  here  ren- 
dered "  condemnation,"  occurs  forty-eight  times  in  the  New 
Testament,  and  is  rendered  judgment  in  forty-one  of  these 
instances.  It  is  so  rendered  in  the  27th  and  30th  verses  of 


THE  JUDGMENT,  OR  JUDGMENTS. 


this  same  chapter.  No  good  reason,  we  are  persuaded,  can 
be  given  for  translating  it  in  this  verse  condemnation  and 
in  the  29th  verse  "  damnation."  The  Scriptures,  however,, 
clearly  teach  us  that  there  is  to  be  a  judgment  of  believers 
in  relation  to  their  faithfulness.  Paul,  the  Apostle,  says  in 
1  Cor.  3:  14:  "The  day  shall  declare  "  the  work  of  Gos- 
pel ministers,  and  that  "  the  fire  shall  try  every  man's  work 
of  what  sort  it  is.  The  same  apostle,  in  Korn.  14:  10,  .dis- 
suades the  Christian  from  "judging  his  brother,  or  setting 
at  naught  his  brother,"  by  the  consideration  that  "  we  must 
all  stand  before  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ,"  and  that 
•"  every  one  of  us  shall  give  account  of  himself  to  God,n 
clearly  showing  that  our  conduct  is  to  be  brought  under 
review.  The  same  important  truth  is  most  impressively 
brought  before  us  in  the  parable  of  the  talents.  In  the 
language  of  the  professor  of  Theology  in  the  University  of 
Utrecht,  I  may  remark:  "  Nor  need  we  feel  surprised  that, 
according  to  the  constant  representation  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament, even  the  chosen  and  believing  ones  shall  appear 
before  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ,  although  the  Lord  has 
said  in  another  place  that  His  people  are  already  in  sub- 
stance judged  here  on  earth.  They  come  not  into  the  judg- 
ment of  condemnation,  but  yet  appear  in  the  presence  of 
the  Judge,  before  whom  they  have  boldness,  and  by  whom 
they  are  now  made  manifest,  in  order  to  receive  before  the 
eyes  of  all  a  gracious  reward  of  tried  fidelity." 

2.  There  is  a  crisis  or  hour  of  judgment  awaiting  both 
the  houses  of  Israel  in  the  latter  days.  The  ten  tribes  are 
at  present  hidden  from  view,  but  under  the  judicial  wrath 
of  God.  The  awful  extent  of  this  wrath,  as  it  hath  rested 
and  still  continues  to  rest  upon  the  house  of  Judah,  ha& 
been  the  theme  of  historians  without  number.  In  Hos. 
3:  4,  5,  we  are  told  that  "  the  children  of  Israel  shall  abide 
many  days  without  a  prince,  and  without  a  sacrifice,  and 


250  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

without  an  image,  and  without  an  ephod,  and  without  tera- 
phim."  For  "  image,"  "ephod,"  and  "  teraphim,"  the 
Seventy  have  altar,  priesthood  and  manifestations.  What 
a  remarkable  description  of  their  present  condition!  The 
next  verse  shows  us  that  "  afterward  shall  the  children  of 
Israel  return  and  seek  the  Lord  their  God,  and  David 
their  king;  and  shall  fear  the  Lord  and  His  goodness  in  the 
latter  days."  In  harmony  with  this  prophecy  of  liosea, 
Jesus,  to  whom  all  judgment  had  been  committed,  utters 
in  the  midst  of  His  tears  the  following  judgment:  "Behold, 
your  house  is  left  unto  you  desolate.  For  I  say  unto  you, 
Ye  shall  not  see  me  henceforth,  till  ye  shall  say,  Blessed  is 
he  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord."  The  probability 
is  that  this  return  will  be  made  by  them  principally  in  an 
unconverted  state.  The  Gentile  nations  are  to  besiege  them 
and  make  a  terrific  assault  upon  them.  In  Jer.  30 :  7,  the 
prophet  looks  forward  to  that  time  and  exclaims:  "Alas! 
For  that  day  is  great,  so  that  none  is  like  it;  it  is  even  the 
time  of  Jacob's  trouble,  but  he  shall  be  saved  out  of  it." 
In  Dan.  12: 1,  we  have  these  words:  "At  that  time  shall 
Michael  stand  up,  the  great  prince  which  standeth  forth  for 
Thy  people;  and  there  shall  be  a  time  of  trouble,  such  as 
there  never  was  since  there  was  a  nation ,  even  to  that  same 
time;  and  at  that  time  Thy  people  shall  be  delivered,  every 
one  that  shall  be  found  written  in  the  book."  In  Zech.  12: 
8,  9,  the  prophet  thus  speaks:  "  It  shall  (Some  to  pass  that 
in  all  the  land,  saith  the  Lord,  two  parts  therein  shall  be 
cut  off  and  die,  but  the  third  part  shall  be  let  therein,  and 
I  will  bring  the  third  part  through  the  fire,  and  will  refine 
them  as  silver  is  refined,  and  will  try  them  as  gold  is  tried; 
they  shall  call  on  my  name,  and  I  will  hear  them;  I 
will  say,  It  is  my  people,  and  they  shall  say,  The  Lord  is 
my  God."  In  Isaiah  4:3,  4,  it  is  said:  "  It  shall  come  to 
pass  that  he  that  is  left  in  Zion,  and  he  that  remaineth  in 


"THE  JUDGMENT,  OR  JUDGMENTS."  25: 

Jerusalem,  shall  b3  called  holy,  even  every  one  that  is 
written  among  the  living  in  Jerusalem;  when  the  Lord 
shall  have  washed  away  the  filth  of  the  daughters  of  Zion, 
shall  have  purged  the  blood  of  Jerusalem  from  the  midst 
thereof  by  the  spirit  of  judgment,  and  by  the  spirit  of 
burning."  How  this  deliverance  will  be  effected  for  the 
Jews  after  they  have  been  thus  terribly  judged  may  be  seen 
in  Zech.  14: 1-4:  "  Behold  the  day  of  the  Lord  cometh,  and 
thy  spoil  shall  be  divided  in  the  midst  of  thee.  For  I  will 
gather  all  nations  against  Jerusalem  to  battle;  and  the  city 
shall  be  taken,  and  the  houses  rifled,  and  the  women  rav- 
ished; and  half  of  the  city  shall  go  forth  into  captivity,  and 
the  residue  of  the  people  shall  not  be  cut  off  from  the  city. 
Then  shall  the  Lord  go  forth  and  fight  against  those  nations, 
as  when  He  fought  in  the  day  of  battle.  And  His  feet  shall 
stand  in  that  day  upon  the  Mount  of  Olives."  The  spirit 
of  repentance  shall  come  upon  them  with  great  power.  In 
proof  of  this  read  Zech.  12:  9-12:  "And  it  shall  come  to 
pass  in  that  day,  that  I  will  seek  to  destroy  all  the  nations 
that  come  against  Jerusalem.  And  I  will  pour  upon  the 
House  of  David,  and  upon  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem, 
the  Spirit  of  grace  and  of  supplications;  and  they  shall 
look  upon  Me  whom  they  have  pierced,  and  they  shall 
mourn  for  Him  as  one  mourneth  for  his  only  son,  and  shall 
be  in  bitterness  for  Him,  as  one  that  is  in  bitterness  for  his 
first  born."  Ah,  brethren,  will  not  the  tearful  prophecy  of 
the  pierced  and  crucified  Galilean  have  its  fulfillment  then? 
But  what  about  the  house  of  Israel?  To  what  extent 
they  shall  share  in  the  judgments  of  which  we  have  been 
speaking  I  am  not  prepared  to  say.  It  is  clear,  however, 
that  a  day  of  fearful  reckoning  is  before  them,  also,  though 
the  scene  of  this  judgment  will  most  probably  not  be  their 
own  land.  In  proof  of  this  read  Ezek.  20:  32-38.  Here, 
after  assuring  them  that  He  would  rule  over  them  "with  a 


252  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

mighty  hand,  and  with  a  stretched  out  arm,  and  with  fury 
poured  out,"  Jehovah  solemnly  declares  to  them,  "  and  I 
will  bring  you  into  the  wilderness  of  the  people,  and  there 
will  I  plead  with  you  face  to  face.  Like  as  I  pleaded  with 
your  fathers  in  the  wilderness  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  so  will 
I  plead  with  you,  saith  the  Lord  God." 

3.  The  Scriptures  speak  of  a  judgment  of  the  nations. 
A  description  of  that  judgment  we  have  in  Matt.  25:  31-46. 
It  is  there  said — u  When  the  Son  of  Man  shall  come  in  His 
glory,  and  all  the  holy  angels  with  Him,  then  shall  He  sit 
upon  the  throne  of  His  glory;  and  before  Him  shall  be 
gathered  all  nations,  and  He  shall  separate  them  one  from 
another,  as  a  shepherd  divideth  his  sheep  from  the  goats. 
And  He  shall  set  the  sheep  on  His  right  hand,  but  the  goats 
on  the  left."  Our  Lord  has  been  giving  a  series  of  parables, 
that  of  the  fig  tree,  the  ten  virgins  and  the  talents.  Some 
have,  therefore,  thought  that  this  might  with  propriety  be 
called  the  parable  of  the  sheep  and  the  goats.  However 
that  may  be,  it  would  be  certainly  improper  to  subject  the 
imagery  here  imployed  to  a  rigidly  literal  exegesis.  The 
whole  scene  is  doubtless  designed  to  set  before  us  the  sol- 
emn fact  that  there  is  a  day  of  reckoning  before  the  nations 
of  the  earth,  and  that  that  day  is  the  time  of  our  Lord's 
glorious  advent.  The  separation  which  is  here  represented 
as  being  made  by  the  King,  the  words  addressed  by  Him 
to  the  two  parties  before  Him,  and  the  replies  which  they 
respectively  make,  are  each  designed  to  set  before  us  the 
characteristics  and  the  issues  of  that  judgment  scene  which 
is  here  so  impressively  described.  How  sublime,  how 
majestic  the  scene! 

The  popular  and  prevalent  idea  attached  to  this  scene  is 
that  it  is  descriptive  of  a  grand  assize  in  which  not  only 
those  who  shall  be  alive  at  the  time,  but  all  who  have  died 
and  will  yet  die,  shall  be  judged,  they,  of  course,  having 


"  THE  JUDGMENT,  OR  JUDGMENTS."  253 

been  raised  to  life.  It  is,  therefore,  in  their  belief,  a  judg- 
ment of  the  quick  and  the  dead.  This  view  can  not  be 
maintained. 

The  following  considerations  are  sufficient  to  show  that 
the  judgment  scene  does  not  embrace  any  of  the  resurrec- 
tion, but  only  those  who  are  alive  at  that  epoch: 

1.  The  passage  contains  no  reference  whatever  to  a  res- 
urrection.    The  presumption  is  that  an  event  so  important 
and  calculated  to  add  so  much  interest  to  the  scene  would 
have  been  mentioned  had  our  Lord  intended  to  include  the 
dead  as  well  as  the  living.     We  have  here,  then,  a  mere 
assumption  and  that,  too,  against  a  strong  presumption. 

2.  The  fact  that  these  here  judged  are  called  "  nations," 
is  conclusive  against  the  admission  of  any  others  but  the 
living.     There  is  no  instance  in  all  the  Scriptures  in  which 
the  word  WVOG  nation,  is  employed  with  any  reference,  direct 
or  indirect,  to  those  who  have  died.     There  are  upward  of 
150  texts  in  which  this  word  occurs  in  the  New  Testament, 
and  among  all  these  there  is  not  one  instance  of  its  denoting 
any  who  were  not  or  are  not  to  be  the  inhabitants  of  the 
earth  at  the  time  to  which  the  passage  refers. 

3.  There  are  other  places  in  the  Scriptures  in  which 
similar  expressions  are  employed  in  connection  with  the 
infliction  of  terrible  judgments,  and  which  probably  point 
to  the  same  events,  which  are  universally  admitted  to  have 
no  reference  to  a  judgment  of  any  but  those  who  are  alive. 
We  shall  quote  a  few  out  of  many  passages  which  might 
be  adduced.     Isa.  34: 1,  2;  "Come  near,  ye  nations,  to  hear; 
and  hearken,  ye  people;  let  the  earth  hear,  and  all  that  is 
therein;  the  world,  and  all  things  that  come  forth  of  it. 
For  the  indignation  of  the  Lord  is  upon  all  nations  (the 
Sept.  KavTd  ra  £0w?),  and   His   fury  upon  all   their   armies. 
He  hath  utterly  destroyed  them ;   He  hath  delivered  them 
to  the  slaughter."     Joel  3:2:  "I  will  also  gather  all  nations 


254  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


(Sept.  <7wd£«  Trdvra  ra  lOvrj  and  will  bring  them  down  into 
the  Yalley  of  Jehoshaphat,  and  will  plead  with  them  there." 
And  again  in  verse  11:  "Assemble  yourselves,  and  come, 
all  ye  heathen  (n&vra  ra  Wvri)  and  gather  yourselves 
together  roundabout;  thither  cause  Thy  mighty  ones  to 
come  down,  O  Lord!"  Terse  12:  "Let  the  heathen 
(Sept.  Trdvra  ra  Mhtj)  be  wakened  and  come  up  to  the  Yal- 
ley of  Jehoshaphat  ;  for  there  will  I  sit  to  judge  all  the 

heathen    round     about."         Auutpivai    Trdvra    ra    edvrj   KVidddev.     In 

Ezek.  39,  after  calling  upon  every  beast,  etc.,  to  come 
and  eat  the  flesh  of  the  mighty,  and  drink  the  blood  of  the 
princes  of  the  earth,  we  have  these  words  in  verse  21  — 
"  And  I  will  set  My  glory  among  the  heathen,  and  all  the 
heathen  shall  see  My  judgment  that  I  have  executed,  and 
My  hand  that  I  have  laid  upon  them."  Read  Zech.  14: 
1,  2:  "Behold,  the  day  of  the  Lord  cometh,  and  thy  spoil 
shall  be  divided  in  the  midst  of  thee.  For  I  will  gather 
all  nations  against  Jerusalem  to  battle,"  etc.  And  then  in 
the  5th  verse  it  is  said  :  "  The  Lord  my  God  shall  come, 
and  all  the  saints  with  Thee."  Now,  I  ask,  if  these  passages 
where  Jehovah  is  represented  as  coming  with  all  His  saints, 
and  gathering  all  the  nations  and  sitting  to  judge  them,  and 
where  it  is  said  He  shall  set  His  glory  among  the  nations 
and  they  shall  see  His  glory  —  if,  I  say,  these  passages  are 
regarded  by  no  one  as  having  any  reference  to  a  judgment 
of  any  but  the  living,  on  what  ground  can  it  be  alleged 
that  "the  nations"  mentioned  in  the  25th  chapter  of 
Matthew,  include  not  only  all  the  living,  but  all,  both  old 
and  young,  who  have  died  ? 

4.  Another  consideration  which  shows  that  the  persons 
here  judged  are  not  all  the  dead,  as  well  as  those  who  may 
be  alive  at  that  time,  is  the  reasons  given  by  the  Judge  for 
His  decision  in  relation  to  the  two  respective  classes  into 
which  He  has  arranged  them,  namely,  the  sheep  and  the 


"THE  JUDGMENT,  OR  JUDGMENTS."  255 

goats.  These  reasons  were  the  kindness  shown  by  the 
one  class  and  the  kindness  not  shown  by  the  other 
class  to  His  brethren,  even  to  the  least  of  them.  It 
requires  no  words  to  show  that,  not  to  mention  infants, 
there  are  millions  upon  millions  who  have  died,  to  whom 
these  reasons  would  have  been  wholly  inapplicable.  What 
multitudes,  in  the  ages  of  the  past,  have  passed  away  who 
never  heard  of  the  name  of  Jesus  or  his  brethren! 

5.  The  form  in  which  this  judgment  is  presented  seems 
to  be  altogether  distinct  from  the  one  contained  in  Rev.  20: 
11-15.  Here  there  is  no  mention,  as  in  that  case,  of  a 
formal  trial — no  opening  of  books  and  judging  out  of  those 
things  that  were  written  in  the  books,  according  to  their 
works.  We  have  here  a  "  King  "  sitting  upon  "  the  throne 
of  His  glory,"  and  calling  up  rebellious  or  obedient  subjects, 
upon  whom  a  sentence  of  reward  or  punishment  is  passed. 
They  are  divided  into  classes  in  a  way  which  presupposes 
their  previous  guilt  or  innocence,  and  then  the  sentence  is 
pronounced  with  a  declaration  of  the  ground  on  which  it 
is  based. 

The  foregoing  considerations,  it  is  humbly  thought, 
demonstrate  that,  whatever  may  or  may  not  be  the  refer- 
ence in  that  solemn  scene  brought  before  us  in  this  chapter, 
that  reference  can  not  be  to  a  universal  judgment  both  of 
the  living  and  the  dead. 

I  now  proceed  to  remark  that  there  is  a  strong  probability 
that  Jesus  by  all  the  nations  (x&vra  rd  tdvjj)  refers  simply  to 
all  Gentile  nations,  that  is,  to  all  those  among  the  Gentiles 
who  had  shown  kindness  or  had  failed  to  show  kindness  to 
the  brethren  of  Christ. 

1.  In  favor  of  this  view  may  be  urged  the  following 
considerations:  This  is  the  most  general  reference  of  the 
original  word  here  rendered  "  nation."  This  word,  with 
the  article,  as  in  the  passage  before  us,  occurs,  we  think,  not 


256  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

less  than  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  times  in  the  New 
Testament.  It  is  rendered  u  the  Gentiles "  ninety-two 
times;  "  the  nations  "  ten  times;  "  the  heathen  "  live  times, 
arid  simply  u nations"  twenty-five  times  only,  in  this 
sense  it  is  employed  in  Matt.  6:31:  "Take  no  thought, 
therefore,  saying,  what  shall  we  eat,  or  what  shall  we  drink, 
•or  wherewithal  shall  we  be  clothed.  For  after  all  these  things 
do  the  Gentiles  seek."  In  the  parallel  passage  in  Luke  12: 
31,  the  word  is  rendered  "  nations."  In  the  following  pas- 
sages the  word  is  rendered  "Gentiles,"  Acts  11: 1;  13:  46, 
48;  Acts  14:2,  5;  18:6.  As  instances  in  which  as  used 
by  our  Lord,  it  is  rendered  "  Gentiles,"  refer  to  Matt.  20:  25: 
"Ye  know  that  the  princes  of  the  Gentiles,"  etc.;  Luke 
21:  24:  "Jerusalem  shall  be  trodden  down  of  the  Gentiles 
till  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  be  fulfilled."  These  are 
merely  given  as  specimens.  If  now  we  attach  this  idea  to 
Matt.  25  :  42,  we  have  simply  a  declaration  on  the  part  of 
Jesus  that  He  will  come  to  sit  in  judgment  upon  the 
•Gentiles.  Had  the  passage  been  rendered,  "  And  before 
Him  all  the  Gentiles  shall  be  gathered,"  does  any  one 
believe  that  the  idea  which  is  now  generally  attached  to 
these  words  would  have  taken  such  a  hold  upon  the  popular 
mind?  The  fact  that  the  Gospel  according  to  Matthew  is 
universally  admitted  to  have  been  designed  primarily  and 
specially  for  the  Jews,  gives  no  little  weight  to  this  con- 
sideration. 

2.  In  favor  of  this  view,  may  be  urged  the  fact  that  it 
brings  this  passage  into  striking  harmony  with  numerous 
other  prophecies.  Some  of  these  have  already  been  quoted, 
and,  therefore,  need  not  be  restated.  In  them  we  are  assured 
that  there  would  be  a  day,  spoken  of  repeatedly  as  "  that 
day,"  and  as  "  the  day  of  the  Lord,"  in  which  He  would 
"  gather  all  nations  and  bring  them  down  into  the  Valley 
Jehoshaphat,  and  plead  with  them  there  for  My  people  and 


"  THE  JUDGMENT,  OR  JUDGMENTS."  257 

My  heritage,  Israel;"  and  that  he  would  there  "sit  and 
judge  all  the  heathen  round  about."  What  have  we  here 
in  Matthew,  but  another  solemn  warning,  and  that  in  the 
same  words,  from  u  the  Shepherd  and  Judge  of  Israel "  as 
to  this  "  day  of  vengeance  "  that  was  before  the  nations.  If 
we  read  the  25tli  chapter  of  Jeremiah  we  shall  find  a  descrip- 
tion of  desolating  judgments  under  the  figure  of  a  "wine 
cup,"  which  the  prophet  is  directed  to  present  to  the  nations 
in  succession.  In  the  25th  verse  it  is  said:  "And  all  the 
Kings  of  the  North,  far  and  near,  one  with  another,  and  all 
the  Kingdoms  of  the  world,  which  are  upon  the  face  of  the 
earth  "  shall  drink  of  this  cup.  In  verses  30  and  33  we 
have  these  solemn  words :  "  Therefore  prophecy  against 
them  all  these  words,  and  say  unto  them,  The  Lord  shall 
roar  from  on  high,  and  utter  his  voice  from  His  Holy  habi- 
tation; He  shall  mightily  roar  upon  His  habitation;  He 
shall  give  a  shout  as  they  that  tread  the  grapes  against  all 
the  inhabitants  of  the  earth.  A  noise  shall  come  even  to 
the  ends  of  the  earth ;  for  the  Lord  hath  a  controversy  with 
the  nations;  He  will  plead  with  all  flesh;  He  will  give  them 
that  are  wicked  to  the  sword,  saith  the  Lord.  Thus  said 
the  Lord  of  Hosts,  Behold  evil  shall  go  forth  from  nation 
to  nation,  and  a  great  whirlwind  shall  be  raised  from  the 
coasts  of  the  earth,  and  the  slain  of  the  Lord  shall  be  at 
that  day  from  one  end  of  the  earth  even  to  the  other  end 
of  the  earth;  they  shall  not  be  lamented,  neither  gathered, 
nor  buried ;  they  shall  be  dung  upon  the  ground."  In  con- 
nection with  these  passages  let  Daniel  2:  31-45  be  considered. 
Here  we  have  the  four  successive  Kingdoms  of  the  earth 
represented  as  being  broken  in  pieces  and  consumed  by  that 
Kingdom  which  the  God  of  Heaven  shall  set  up.  So  also 
in  the  Tth  chapter  the  world-powers,  including  the  kings  of 
the  earth  and  their  adherents,  are  symbolized  by  four  beasts. 
The  last  of  these  makes  war  with  the  -saints  and  prevails 
17 


258  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

against  them  "  until  the  Ancient  of  Days  came  and  judgment 
was  given  to  the  saints  of  the  Most  High,''  when  it  is  said, 
verse  26,  "  the  judgment  shall  sit  and  they  shall  take  away 
his  dominion  to  consume  and  destroy  it  unto  the  end." 

In  correspondence  with  these  Old  Testament  prophecies 
we  have  in  Rev.  19: 11-21,  a  vivid-  representation  of  the 
same  terrible  scene  of  judgment  upon  the  nations,  where 
we  are  told  that  "  The  beast  was  taken  and  with  him  the 
false  prophet,  etc.,  and  cast  alive  into  a  lake  of  fire  burning 
with  brimstone,"  a  punishment  similar  to  that  to  which 
those  who  are  on  the  left  hand  of  the  King  are  doomed. 
In  connection  with  these  passages  it  would  be  well  carefully 
to  point  2  Thess.  1:7-9;  Jude  14-15;  2  Thess.  2:8. 

In  view,  therefore,  of  the  fact  that  the  scene  described  in 
the  25th  chapter  of  Matthew,  if  understood  to  be  a  prophecy 
of  a  judgment  to  which  the  Gentiles  are  to  be  subjected  at 
the  coming  of  the  Lord,  harmonizes  with  numerous  other 
prophecies,  both  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  Scriptures, 
it  is,  with  deference,  submitted  that  is  most  probably  the 
idea  that  is  to  be  attached  to  it. 

There  appear  to  be  three  distinct  classes  referred  to — the 
"sheep,"  the  "  goats,"  and,  as  distinguished  from  both  these, 
the  "  brethren  of  Christ."  Some  have  thought  that  by  his 
brethren,  as  distinguished  from  the  others,  we  are  to  under- 
stand his  brethren  according  to  the  flesh — the  Jews.  Consult 
Horn.  9: 5,  where  the  apostle  tells  us  that  Christ,  as  concerning 
the  flesh,  came  of  the  fathers,  referring  to  the  Jewish  patri- 
archs. In  Rom.  11: 16,  Paul  speaks  of  the  Jews  as,  though 
cast  off,  being  a  "holy,"  that  is,  a  consecrated,  "lump," 
and  in  verse  28  as  "  beloved  for  the  fathers'  sakes."  Balaam, 
in  Numb.  24:19,  is  forced  to  exclaim  in  relation  to  the 
Jewish  nation,  "  Blessed  is  he  that  blesseth  thee,  and  cursed 
is  he  that  curseth  thee."  These  and  other  similar  passages 
seem  to  afford  sufficient  ground  for  the  application  by 


"  THE  JUDGMENT,  OR  JUDGMENTS."  259 

Christ  to  the  covenant  people  of  the  endearing  name  of 
brethren. 

This  view,  we  have  no  disposition  to  press,  especially 
when  we  recall  the  words  of  Jesus:  "My  brethren  are  these 
who  hear  the  word  of  God  and  keep  it." 

But  though  this,  is  a  judgment  of  Gentiles,  and  is  to  take 
place  here  on  earth,  it  does  not  follow  that  the  punishment 
inflicted  or  the  reward  conferred  is  merely  of  temporal 
character.  The  issues  of  the  judgment  are  final  in  the  case 
of  both  those  on  the  right  hand  and  the  left  hand  of  the 
Judge.  The  last  verse  declares :  "  These  shall  go  away  into 
everlasting  punishment;  but  the  righteous  into  life  eternal." 
The  former  are  made  the  heirs  of  a  kingdom,  while  the 
latter  are  banished  into  everlasting  fire  prepared  for  the 
devil  and  his  angels.  Some  have  doubtless  been  led  by  a 
superficial  view  of  the  language  employed  by  the  king  in 
this  sentence  to  identify  this  judgment  with  that  of  the  great 
white  throne  which  takes  place  after  the  millennium,  when 
the  "  dead,  small  and  great,"  are  said  to  appear  before  God. 
If,  however,  we  refer  to  Jude  7,  we  shall  find  that  "  Sodom 
and  Gomorrah,  and  the  cities  about  them  "  are  said  to  be 
"  set  forth  for  an  example,  suffering  the  vengeance  of  eternal 
fire."  If  these  cities  could  suffer  eternal  fire  many  ages 
before  the  millennium,  why  could  not  the  unrighteous  be 
sent  into  everlasting  fire?  A  similar  punishment  is  (Rev. 
14  : 10)  inflicted  and  confessedly,  too,  before  the  millennium, 
upon  those  who  "  worship  the  beast  and  his  image,  and 
receive  his  mark  in  their  foreheads,  or  in  their  right  hands." 
If  they  could  be  u  tormented  with  fire  and  brimstone  in  the 
presence  of  the  Holy  Angels  and  in  the  presence  of  the 
Lamb,"  why  not  those  who  have  persecuted  the  brethren  of 
Christ?  And  if  the  beast  and  the  false  prophet  can  be,  as 
all  agree  will  be  the  case,  cast  "  alive  into  a  lake  of  fire 
burning  with  brimstone"  before  the  millennium,  why 


200  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

should  there  be  any  hesitation  in  admitting  that  this  awful 
doom  may  be  inflicted  upon  the  enemies  of  Christ  and  His 
suffering  brethren  ?  (Rev.  19 : 20.) 

Notwithstanding  the  most  fearful  judgments  shall  thus 
be  visited  upon  the  nations  of  the  earth,  the  result,  it  would 
appear,  is  not  a  total  destruction.  On  the  contrary,  we  are 
told  in  Isa.  66: 18, 19,  that  "  it  shall  come  that  I  will  gather 
all  nations  and  tongues;  and  they  shall  come  and  see  my 
glory,  and  I  will  set  a  sign  among  them,  and  I  will  send  those 
that  escape  of  them  (mark  the  words)  unto  the  nations,  to 
Tarshish,  Pul  and  Lud  that  draw  the  bow,  to  Tubal  and 
Javan,  to  the  isles  afar  off,  that  have  not  heard  my  fame, 
neither  have  seen  my  glory  among  the  Gentiles."  Thus 
there  is  a  remnant  both  of  Jews  and  Gentiles. 

In  the  destruction  of  those  nations  that  shall  then  be 
found  in  rebellion  against  the  Lord  and  against  His  Christ 
are  brought  to  a  final  consummation  the  overthrow  of  every 
wicked  organization,  whether  of  a  religious  or  civil  char- 
acter. Then,  too,  will  come  to  end  all  those  Christless 
associations  that  have  been  begotten  and  nurtured  by  the 
dark  spirit  of  secrecy.  Oh,  yes,  they  will  vanish  amid  the 
blazing  fives  of  that  "  great  and  terrible  day  of  the  Lord." 
The  dragon,  the  beast,  and  the  false  prophet,  with  the 
unclean  spirits  that  went  forth  from  their  mouths,  have  met 
their  final  doom. 

4.  The  Scriptures  speak  of  a  judgment  of  the  dead.  An 
account  of  this  we  have  in  Rev.  20: 11-15.  This  judgment 
takes  place  after  the  thousand  years  are  expired.  The 
apostle  tells  us  that  he  "  saw  the  dead,  small  and  great, 
stand  before  God;  and  the  books  were  opened;  and  another 
book  was  opened,  which  is  the  book  of  life;  and  the  dead 
were  judged  out  of  those  things  which  were  written  in  the 
books,  according  to  their  works."  Here  you  will  notice 
that  the  dead  are  twice  specifically  mentioned.  But  that 


"  THE  JUDGMENT,  OR  JUDGMENTS."  261 

is  not  all.  In  the  very  next  verse  it  is  said:  "And  the 
sea  gave  up  the  dead  which  are  in  it;  and  death  and  hell 
delivered  up  the  dead  which  were  in  them;  and  they 
were  judged  every  man  according  to  their  works." 

Those  who  introduce  the  dead  among  "  all  the  nations," 
in  Matt.  25,  do  not  hesitate  to  introduce  the  living  as 
among  the  number  that  are  to  be  judged  on  this  occasion.* 
The  one  is  as  unauthorized  as  the  other.  This  results  from 
an  identification  of  these  two  judgments.  As  before  shown, 
however,  they  are  clearly  distinct  as  well  as  separated  from 
each  other  by  a  thousand  years.  A  t  all  events,  whether 
separated  by  such  a  period  or  not,  they  are  not  the  same. 
The  very  place  of  the  judgment  here  is  altogether  different 
from  that  in  the  Gospel.  There  the  judgment  is  on  the 
earth;  for,  according  to  the  universal  belief  of  Christians, 
"  when  the  Son  of  Man  shall  come  in  His  glory,"  it  shall  be 
from  heaven  to  earth.  Here,  however,  "  the  earth  and  the 
heaven  "  are  said  to  have  "fled  away;  and  there  was  no 
place  found  for  them."  The  great  White  Throne,  therefore, 
is  not  on  the  earth  at  all.  As  expressly  predicted  by  the 
Apostle  Peter,  they  have  been  "  dissolved,  and  their  ele- 
ments have  melted  with  fervent  heat." 

We  have  here  symbolically  set  before  us  an  assize  in 
which  there  is  a  strict  judicial  trial  made  and  a  sentence 
given  according  to  the  law  and  the  evidence.  The  design 
of  the  whole  scene  is  evidently  to  bring  before  us  in  an 
impressive  manner  the  idea  that  the  claims  of  justice  will 
at  last  be  vindicated. 

The  question  here  presents  itself:  Are  there  any  believers 
among  those  who  are  judged  on  this  occasion?  We  do  not 

*Let  it  not  be  inferred  that  the  ''nations  "  here  mentioned  are  treated 
simply  in  their  collective  or  corporate  capacity.  Whatever  may,  or  may 
not  be  the  true  interpretation  of  this  difficult  passage,  it  must  be  admit- 
ted that  those  who  "go  away  into  everlasting  punishment,"  and  those 
who  enter  "  into  eternal  life"  are  individual  persons.  The  separation 
which  the  Shepherd  is  exhibited  as  making  seems  evidently  to  imply  this. 


262  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

wish  to  dogmatize  on  this  point;  yet,  to  us,  the  presump- 
tion appears  to  be  against  the  admission  of  this  idea.  This 
opinion  is  based  on  the  following  reasons:  1.  There  is  no 
reference  to  any  as  having  been  rewarded,  while  there  is 
express  mention  of  the  dreadful  doom  that  fall  upon  such 
as  "  were  not  found  written  in  the  Book  of  Life."  How 
account  for  such  a  remarkable  omission?  2.  The  analogy 
of  faith,  the  union  of  believers  with  Christ,  the  fact  that 
they  are  exhibited  in  this  Apocalypse  as  "  the  Bride,  the 
Lamb's  wife,"  their  acknowledged  state  of  freedom  from 
the  law  as  a  covenant  of  life,  and  above  all  the  express 
declaration  of  Jesus  Himself  in  John  5 : 24,  would  seem  to 
indicate  that  they  would  not  appear  in  such  a  judgment  as 
the  one  here  described,  that  is,  a  judgment  to  eternal  life 
or  death. 

The  fact  that  the  "  Book  of  Life  "  is  represented  as  being 
consulted,  led  me  for  some  time  to  entertain  the  idea  that 
believers  are  to  be  included  among  "the  dead"  who  were 
judged.  The  following  statement,  however,  has  had  the 
effect  of  lessening,  if  not  entirely  removing,  the  difficulty 
founded  on  the  reference  here  to  the  Book  of  Life: 

"  We  need  scarcely  say,"  observes  the  writer,  "  that  previous  to  all 
investigation,  God  knows  that  the  names  of  the  wicked  are  not  there, 
even  as  without  any  trial  He  knows  the  character  of  their  works.  But 
according  to  His  gracious  dealings  with  men,  none  are  necessarily  con- 
demned for  evil  works,  pardon  being  offered  to  the  guilty.  For  this 
reason,  there  are  two  solemn  stages  in  this  judgment.  First,  a  reference 
to  the  4  other  books,'  to  show  that  the  works  of  the  wicked  deserve 
death.  Secondly,  the  opening  of  '  the  Book  of  Life,'  to  show  that  by 
unbelief  they  have  rejected  life.  And  then,  their  names  not  being  there, 
the  execution  of  the  sentence  follows — which  is  '  the  second  death.'  " 

Prior  to  this  we  have  an  account  of  the  casting  of  the 
devil,  at  the  close  of  the  thousand  years,  into  the  "  lake  of 
fire  and  brimstone."  This  appears  to  be  that  final  judg- 
ment that  is  in  reserve  for  "  Diabolos,"  the  leader  of  those 


THE  JUDGMENT,  OR  JUDGMENTS." 


"  angels  that  kept  not  their  first  estate,  but  left  their  own 
habitation,"  and  who  are  said  to  be  "  reserved  in  everlasting 
chains,  under  darkness,  unto  the  judgment  of  the  great 
day."  Into  this  "  lake  of  fire,  burning  with  brimstone," 
the  beast  and  the  false  prophet  are  said,  before  the  thousand 
years  begin,  to  be  both  cast  alive.  This  was  consequent 
upon  the  descent  of  Him  "  who  hath  on  His  vesture  and  on 
His  thigh  the  name  written,  KING-  OF  KINGS,  AND  LORD  OF 
LOKDS,"  and  who  was  followed  by  "  the  armies  which  were 
in  heaven,  clothed  in  fine  linen,  white  and  clean."  That 
scene  may,  therefore,  be  identified  with  the  judgment  of 
the  "  nations  "  depicted  in  the  25tb  chapter  of  Matthew.  It 
is  worthy  of  notice  that  the  everlasting  fire  into  which  those 
on  the  left  hand  of  "  the  King"  are  sent  is  said  to  be  "  pre- 
pared for  the  devil  and  his  angels."  Here  it  is  said  "  the 
devil  that  deceived  them  was  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire  and 
brimstone,  where  the  beast  and  the  false  prophet  are,  and 
shall  be  tormented  day  and  night  for  ever  and  ever."  How 
striking:  the  harmony  here  ! 

We  have  thus  specified  several  distinct  judgments.  These 
judgments,  however,  may  all  be  regarded  as  one^  the  whole 
period  being  called  the  Day  of  Judgment.  Those  which 
we  have  been  considering  may  be  viewed  as  different  acts 
or  scenes  in  that  one  judgment. 

Y.  'What  is  the  order  of  these  judgments?  Here,  breth- 
ren, it  becomes  me  to  speak  with  the  greatest  deference  and 
caution.  A  spirit  of  dogmatism  is  especially  unbecoming 
here.  I  have  no  sympathy  with  it  in  others,  and  I  would 
devoutly  desire  to  avoid  it  myself.  I  believe,  with  that 
distinguished  Professor  of  Theology  in  the  University  of 
Utrecht  from  whom  I  have  previously  quoted,  that  "  while 
the  path  of  eschatology  is  traced  over  the  highest  moun- 
tain heights,  the  loftiest  peaks  are  bordered  by  the  deepest 
chasms."  Into  these  chasms  I  shall  deem  it  the  part  of 


264  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

wisdom  not  to  enter.  Questions  may  be  started  touching 
not  only  "  the  times  and  the  seasons  which  the  Father  hath 
put  in  His  own  power,"  but  touching  the  exact  character 
and  extent  of  the  events  of  unfulfilled  prophecy,  and  espe- 
cially their  relation  to  each  other,  to  which  the  only  proper 
answer  is,  "  ignorantiam  fateri  optima  scientia — to  con- 
fess ignorance  is  the  choicest  wisdom." 

Impressed  deeply  with  the  difficulties  attending  the  sub- 
ject, and  my  own  inability  to  solve  them  to  the  satisfaction 
of  myself  or  others,  I  shall  try  to  bring  before  you  the 
order  of  these  judgments  and  the  relation  they  sustain  to 
each  other. 

1 .  The  judgment  of  the  nations  is  expressly  declared  to 
be  at  the  Coming  of  the  Son  of  Man.     It  is  then  "  that 
He  sits  upon  the  throne  of  His  glory  and  gathers  all  nations 
before  Him." 

2.  Before  proceeding  to  the  work  of  judgment  the  Lord 
Jesus  exalts  to  thrones  and  associates  with  Himself  in  the 
judgment  those  who  had  fallen  asleep  in  Him  and  those 
who  are  alive  and  waiting  for  Him,  but  who  are  changed 
by  the  same  power  as  that  by  whom  the  dead  are  raised,  1 
Thess.  4: 17.     Hence   He  is  presented  as  "  coming  with 
them.19     The  passages  in  which  the  saints  are  exhibited  as- 
associated  with    Christ    in  judgment    are   very   explicit. 
Enoch,  the  seventh  from  Adam,  prophesied  of  these,  say- 
ing:    "  Behold,  the  Lord  cometh  with  ten  thousand  of  His 
saints,  to  execute  judgment  upon  all,"  etc.  (Jude  14.)  "  The 
Lord  my  God  shall  come  and  all  the  saints  with  Thee." 
(Zech.  14:5.)     David  says  (Ps.  149:5-8),  that  to  execute 
the  judgment  written  is  an  honor  which  all  the  saints  are 
to  have.     In  the  vision  of  Daniel  (ch.  8),  a  judgment  scene 
is  presented;  the  thrones  or  seats  are  set,  and  "judgment," 
we  are  told,  "  was  given  to  the  saints  of  the  Most  High." 
The  Apostle   declares   that   "  the   saints   shall  judge  the 


"  THE  JUDGMENT,  OR  JUDGMENTS."      265- 

world,"  and  he  tells  the  Corinthian  believers  that  they 
"  shall  judge  angels."  Our  Lord  gives  this  solemn  assur- 
ance to  His  disciples  (Matt.  19:28)  :  "  In  the  regeneration,, 
when  the  Son  of  Man  shall  sit  on  the  throne  of  His  glory, 
ye  also  shall  sit  upon  twelve  thrones,  judging  the  twelve 
tribes  of  Israel."  The  judgment  so  repeatedly  ascribed  to 
the  saints  includes  the  idea  of  rule  and  authority  according 
to  the  promise  of  the  Master  in  Luke  19: 17-19,  in  which 
one  of  the  faithful  servants  is  declared  to  be  a  ruler  over 
ten  cities,  and  another  over  five  cities,  etc.  It  is  with  a 
view  to  this  exalted  position  of  judges  and  rulers  with 
Christ,  that  they 'are  caught  up  to  "  meet  "  their  returning 
Lord  in  the  air.  This  is  unmistakably  shown  in  Rev.  19r 
where  the  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords  "  is  represented 
as  riding  upon  a  "  white  horse."  "  Out  of  His  mouth 
goeth  a  sharp  sword,  that  with  it  He  should  smite  the 
nations;  and  He  shall  rule  them  with  a  rod  of  iron;  and 
He  treadeth  the  wine  press  of  the  fierceness  and  wrath  of 
Almighty  God."  But  let  it  be  noticed  that  He  does  not 
come  alone;  for  it  is  said:  "The  armies  which  were  in 
heaven  followed  Him  upon  white  horses,  clothed  in  fine 
linen,  white  and  clean.0  This  accords  with  His  gracious 
promise  in  Rev.  2:26  :  "  He  that  overcometh  and  keepeth 
My  works  unto  the  end,  to  him  will  I  give  power  over  the- 
nations;  and  he  shall  rule  them  with  a  rod  of  iron;  as  the 
vessels  of  a  potter  shall  they  be  broken  to  pieces." 

In  the  20th  chapter  of  Revelation  we  have  exhibited  to 
us  the  formal  investiture  of  the  risen  saints  with  judicial 
powers.  It  is  there  said  that  "judgment  was  given  unto 
them,"  that  is,  as  Alford  expresses  it,  "  They  were  consti- 
tuted judges."  I  can  not  consent,  after  a  most  careful  con- 
sideration of  the  passage,  to  regard  this  in  any  other  light 
than  a  literal  resurrection.  My  opinion  is  of  little  account* 
I  will,  therefore,  introduce  to  you  the  testimony  of  that  dis- 


266  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST, 

tinguished  critic,  Dean  Alford.  Here  is  his  testimony  on 
Revelation  20:6  ("This  is  the  first  resurrection  "): 

"  It  will  have  been  long  ago  anticipated  by  the  readers 
of  this  commentary  that  I  can  not  consent  to  distort  words 
from  their  plain  sense  and  chronological  place  in  the 
prophecy,  on  account  of  any  considerations  of  difficulty,  or 
any  risk  of  abuses  which  the  doctrine  of  the  Millennium 
may  bring  with  it.  Those  who  lived  next  to  the  Apostles, 
.and  the  whole  Church  for  300  years,  understood  them  in 
the  plain  literal  sense;  and  it  is  a  strange  sight  in  these 
days  to  see  expositors  who  are  among  the  first  in  reverence 
of  antiquity,  complacently  casting  aside  'the  most  cogent 
instances  of  consensus  which  primitive  antiquity  presents. 
As  regards  the  text,  no  legitimate  treatment  of  it  will 
extort  what  is  known  as  the  spiritual  interpretation  of  it 
now  in  fashion.  If,  in  a  passage  where  two  resurrections 
are  mentioned,  where  certain  ^vXat  %aav  at  the  first,  and 
the  rest  of  the  vexpbt  e&aav  only  at  the  end  of  a  specified 
period  after  that  first — if  in  such  a  passage  the  first  resur- 
rection may  be  understood  to  mean  spiritual  rising  with 
Christ,  while  the  second  means  literal  rising  from  the  grave 
— then  there  is  an  end  to  all  significance  in  language,  and 
Scripture  is  wiped  out  as  a  definite  testimony  to  anything." 

What  part  the  risen  saints  will  take  in  the  judgments 
with  which  they  are  associated  with  Christ  we  do  not. know. 
The  fact — a  fact  most  clearly  revealed  in  the  Scriptures — is 
all  with  which  we  have  at  present  to  do. 

3.  By  means  of  those  that  pass  through  these  great 
tribulations  that  will  overtake  both  Jews  and  Gentiles,  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  will  form  his  Millennial  Kingdom  on  the 
-earth,  over  which  Christ  and  His  risen  saints  shall  reign. 
The  kingdom  will  be  on  the  earth,  but  it  does  not  follow 
that  those  who  reign  will  be  there.  Queen  Victoria  reigns 
over  India  and  the  Canadas,  but  she  has  never  seen,  and 


"  THE  JUDGMENT,  OR  JUDGMENTS."  267 

probably  never  will  see,  these  countries.  The  discussion  of 
this  subject  does  not,  however,  fall  within  our  range.  What 
we  affirm  is  that  there  are  to  be  nations  on  the  earth  during 
the  Millennial  period.  These  terrific  judgments  of  which 
we  have  been  speaking  have  not  resulted  in  a  total  destruc- 
tion of  its  population.  It  is  true  that  "  the  Lord  will  come 
with  fire  and  with  His  chariots,  like  a  whirlwind,  to  render 
His  anger  with  fury  and  His  rebuke  with  flames  of  fire. 
For  by  fire  and  by  His  sword  will  the  Lord  plead  with  all 
flesh;  and  the  slain  of  the  Lord  shall  be  many."  This  is 
true;  but  the  same  chapter  that  records  this  solemn  truth 
assures  that  there  are  those  who  escape  these  judgments 
and  who  are  to  be  employed  as  missionaries  to  those  who 
had  not  heard  His  fame  nor  seen  His  glory,  and  who  will 
assist  in  the  restoration  of  the  Israelites  to  their  own  land. 
(Isa.  66: 15-24.  Consult,  also,  Isa.  59:  20,  21;  65: 17-25.) 
As  for  the  Jews,  though  they  shall  be  fearfully  wasted  and 
subjected  to  the  most  appalling  sufferings,  yet  a  "  third 
part "  even  of  those  in  the  land  shall  escape,  as  we  have 
seen,  and  will  doubtless  herald  forth  the  glory  of  the  Lord. 
The  question  may  be  asked — after  the  saints  are  caught 
up  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air,  and  the  judgment  is  given 
to  them,  are  there  any  degenerate  persons  left  on  the  earth? 
Here  is  a  question,  brethren,  which  I  can  not  satisfactorily 
answer.  It  has  been  to  me  the  most  serious  difficulty  in 
the  way  of  accepting  the  Pre-Millennarian  system.  It 
would  greatly  stumble  me  were  there  not  on  the  other  side 
difficulties  incomparably  more  serious.  I  wait  for  light  on 
this,  as  on  many  other  subjects,  if  it  please  the  Lord  to  give 
it.  How  long  the  interval  may  be  between  the  rapture  of 
the  saints  and  the  judgment  of  the  nations  we  are  not 
informed.  It  will  doubtless  be  long  enough  for  many  souls 
to  be  converted  and  called  out  into  active  testimony.  The 
matter  of  this  testimony  will  be  of  such  a  character  and 


268         SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

the  work  of  the  Spirit  of  God  upon  the  heart  so  powerful 
that  it  may  not  be  long  before  the  whole  earth  is  vocal  with 
the  praises  of  Jehovah.  Thus,  that  bright  and  glorious 
state  of  things  so  often  depicted  in  the  Word  of  God  will 
be  maintained  for  one  thousand  years. 

4.  At  the  expiration  of  the  thousand  years,  a  sad  apos- 
tacy  takes  place.     If  our  first  parents,  though  made  in  the 
image  of  God,  fell  by  transgression,  shall  this  last  apostacy 
be  thought  incredible,  especially  when  we  take  into  consid- 
eration the  fact  that  man,  though  greatly  advanced  in  holi- 
ness, will  still  be  but  imperfectly  sanctiiied.     We  have  only 
to  suppose  that  anew  generation  has  come  into  existence; 
that  the  Spirit  of  God  has  been  withdrawn;  and  that  Satan, 
the  deceiver,  has  been  let  loose,  to  find  a  solution  of  this 
awful  fact  which  stands  recorded  in  the  page  of  prophecy. 

5.  This  is  followed  by  the  infliction  of  an  awful  judgment 
upon  the  revolters  and  their  leader.     Fire  descends  from 
heaven  upon  them,  while  Satan  is  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire, 
to  be  forever  tormented. 

6.  Then  we  have  the  judgment  of  the  dead,  small  and 
great,  the  nature,  character  and  issues  of  which  we   have 
already  considered.     Here  the  work  of  judgment  ends,  and 
with  it  must  end  the  discussion  of  this  solemn  subject. 

Dear  brethren  in  the  Lord,  some  of  you  have  perhaps 
read  that  most  interesting  work  entitled  "John  Knox  and 
ike  Church  of  England*  by  Dr.  Lorimer,  Professor  of 
Theology  in  the  English  Presbyterian  Church."  Among 
the  many  deeply  interesting  letters  of  this  illustrious 
Scottish  reformer  which  that  work  contains,  there  is  one 
written  by  him  in  1554,  in  one  of  the  darkest  hours  of  his 
wonderful  career.  It  is  addressed  "  to  the  faithful  in  Lon- 
don, New-Castle  and  Berwick,  and  to  all  others  within  the 
realm  of  England  that  love  the  coining  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ."  Hear  how  this  valiant  soldier  of  Christ  draws 


"THE  JUDGMENT,  OR  JUDGMENTS."  269 

courage  and  comfort  as  lie  anticipates,  by  faith,  the  coming 
of  our  Lord  as  a  judge  to  vindicate  the  cause  of  His 
oppressed  people.  He  says,  in  those  burning  words  which 
he  knew  so  well  how  to  use:  "  Has  not  the  Lord  Jesus,  in 
despite  of  Satan's  malice,  carried  up  our  flesh  into  heaven? 
And  shall  He  not  return?  We  know  that  He  shall  return, 
and  with  expedition.  Flee  from  idolatry  and  stand  with 
Christ  Jesus  in  this  day  of  His  battle,  which  shall  be  short 
and  the  victory  everlasting,  for  the  Lord  Himself  shall 
come  in  our  defence  with  His  mighty  power.  He  shall 
give  us  the  victory  when  the  battle  is  maist  strong;  and  He 
shall  turn  our  tears  into  everlasting  joy.  He  shall  consume 
our  enemies  with  the  breath  of  His  mouth,  and  He  shall 
let  us  see  the  destruction  of  them  that  are  now  maist  proud, 
and  that  maist  pretendeth  to  molest  us.  From  God  alone 
we  abide  redemption."  Surely  a  faith  and  hope  that  could 
thus  inspire  the  heart  of  this  brave  old  reformer  in  the  day 
of  battle  may  be  of  use  to  you  and  me. 

Can  I  more  appropriately  close  this  address  than  by 
repeating  the  very  last  section  of  the  last  chapter  of  that 
venerable  symbol  to  which  some  of  us  have  declared  our 
adherence?  I  refer  to  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith. 
These  are  its  closing  words:  "  As  Christ  would  have  us  to 
be  certainly  persuaded  that  there  shaM  be  a  day  of  judg- 
ment, both  to  deter  all  men  from  sin,  and  for  the  greater 
consolation  of  the  godly  in  their  adversity;  so  will  He- 
have  that  day  unknown  to  men,  that  they  may  shake  off  all 
eternal  security,  and  be  always  watchful,  because  they  know 
not  at  what  hour  the  Lord  will  come;  and  may  be  ever  pre- 
pared to  say,  Come,  Lord  Jesus,  come  quickly.  Amen." 


270  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  LORD  IN  ITS  RELATION 
TO  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 

BY  THE  BBV.  DR.  JAMES  H.  BROOKES,  PASTOR  OF  THE  WALNUT  STREET 
PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,  ST.  LOUIS. 

DR.  DA.VID  BROWN,  in  his  well-known  book  against  Pre-Mil- 
lennialism,  truly  says,  "  It  is  a  school  of  Scripture  inter- 
pretation, it  impinges  upon  and  affects  some  of  the  most 
commanding  points  of  the  Christian  faith  ;  and,  when  suf- 
fered to  work  its  unimpeded  way,  it  stops  not  till  it  has 
pervaded  with  its  own  genius  the  entire  system  of  one's 
theology,  and  the  whole  tone  of  his  spiritual  character,  con- 
structing, I  had  almost  said,  a  world  of  its  own;  so  that 
holding  the  same  faith,  and  cherishing  the  same  funda- 
mental hopes  as  other  Christians,  he  yet  sees  things  through 
a  medium  of  his  own,  and  finds  everything  instinct  with  the 
life  which  this  doctrine  has  generated  within  him."  (P.  6.) 

Again,  he  remarks  of  the  opposite  doctrine:  "Are  there 
no  Anti-Premillennial  tendencies,  which  require  to  be 
guarded  against?  I  think  there  are.  Under  the  influence 
of  such  tendencies,  the  inspired  text,  as  such,  presents  no 
rich  and  exhaustless  field  of  prayerful  and  delighted  inves- 
tigation; exegetical  inquiries  and  discoveries  are  an  uncon- 
genial element;  and  whatever  Scripture  intimations  regard- 
ing the  future  destinies  of  the  Church  and  of  the  world 
involve  events  out  of  the  usual  range  of  human  occurrences, 
or  exceeding  the  anticipations  of  enlightened  Christian 
sagacity,  are  almost  instinctively  overlooked  or  softened 
down."  (P.  9.) 

Again,  he  declares  that  "  Pre-Millennialists  have  done  the 
Church  a  real  service,  by  calling  attention  to  the  place 


ITS  RELATION  TO  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE.         271 

which  the  Second  Advent  holds  in  the  Word  of  God  and 
the  scheme  of  Divine  truth.  If  the  controversy  which  they 
have  raised  should  issue  in  a  fresh  and  impartial  inquiry 
into  this  branch  of  it,  I,  for  one,  instead  of  regretting,  shall 
rejoice  in  the  agitation  of  it.  When  they  dilate  upon  the 
prominence  given  to  this  doctrine  in  Scripture,  and  the 
practical  uses  which  are  made  of  it,  they  touch  a  chord  in 
the  heart  of  every  simple  lover  of  his  Lord,  and  carry  con- 
viction to  all  who  tremble  at  His  word;  so  much  so,  that 
I  am  persuaded  that  nine  tenths  of  all  who  have  embraced 
the  Pre-Millennial  view  of  the  Second  Advent,  have  done 
so  on  the  supposition  that  no  other  view  of  it  will  admit  of 
an  unfettered  and  unmodified  use  of  the  Scripture  language 
on  the  subject — that  it  has  its  proper  interpretation  and  full 
force  only  on  this  theory.  *  *  *  With  them  we  affirm 
that  the  REDEEMER'S  SECOND  APPEARING  is  THE  VERY  POLE- 
STAR  OF  THE  CHURCH.  That  it  is  so  held  forth  in  the  New 
Testament  is  beyond  dispute.  Let  any  one  do  himself  the 
justice  to  collect  and  arrange  the  evidence  on  the  subject, 
and  he  will  be  surprised — if  the  study  be  new  to  him — at 
once  at  the  copiousness,  the  variety  and  the  collusiveness 
of  it."  (Pp.  12,  13.) 

Once  more,  at  the  close  of  his  elaborate  argument  he 
beautifully  writes:  "  Nor  is  it  in  regard  to  the  personal 
appearing  of  the  Saviour  only  that  Pre- Millennial! sts  will 
and  ought  to  prevail  against  all  who  keep  it  out  of  sight. 
There  is  a  range  of  truth  connected  with  it  which  neces- 
sarily sinks  out  of  its  Scriptural  position  and  influence 
whenever  the  coming  of  Christ  is  put  out"  of  its  due  place. 
I  refer  to  the  RESURRECTION  as  a  co-ordinate  object  of  the 
Church's  hope,  and  to  all  the  truths  which  circle  around  it, 
in  which  there  is  power  to  stir  and  to  elevate,  which  nothing 
else,  substituted  for  it,  can  ever  possess.  The  resurrection 
life  of  the  Head  as  now  animating  all  His  members,  and  at 


272  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHfilST. 

length  quickening  them  from  the  tomb,  to  be  forever  with 
Him — these,  and  such  like,  are  truths  in  the  presentation 
of  which  Pre-Milleunialists  are  cast  in  the  mould  of  Scrip- 
ture, from  which  it  is  as  vain,  as  it  were  undesirable,  to  dis- 
lodge them."  (P.  488.) 

It  is  somewhat  singular  that  one  who  made  admissions 
so  candid  and  so  creditable  alike  to  his  head  and  his  heart, 
•could  at  the  same  time  labor  with  so  much  ability  and  zeal 
to  divert  the  thoughts  of  God's  people  from  a  doctrine 
which,  according  to  his  own  confession,  "  is  THE  VERY  POLE- 
STAR  OF  THE  CHURCH."  It  ID  ay  be  confidently  asserted  that 
those  who  read  and  receive  as  satisfactory  the  reasonings  of 
his  book,  either  entirely  dismiss  the  subject  of  our  Lord's 
•coming  from  their  attention,  or  remand  it  so  far  to  the 
background  of  their  contemplation,  that  it  utterly  fails  to 
•exert  any  direct  influence  on  their  character  and  conduct.  If 
they  believe  that  it  is  fanatical  and  foolish  to  expect  the 
Saviour's  personal  appearing  before  the  conversion  of  the 
world,  or  until  the  close  of  a  period  more  than  a  thousand 
years  in  the  future,  obviously  they  will  not  dwell  upon  it  as 
immediately  affecting  themselves,  or  as  an  event  possessing 
any  conceivable  interest  for  the  generation  now  living. 
Hence,  however  frequently  they  may  speak  of  Death,  or  the 
Judgment,  or  Heaven,  they  never  allude  to  Christ's  return 
as  a  hope  animating  them  amid  the  vicissitudes  of  their 
own  experience,  and  both  in  their  public  and  private  dis- 
course they  maintain  a  silence  about  it  as  profound  as 
though  it  were  never  mentioned  in  the  Sacred  Scriptures. 

Yet  Dr.  Brown  acknowledges  that  "  it  impinges  upon  and 
affects  some  of  the  most  commanding  points  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith;"  that  in  its  rejection,  "  the  inspired  text,  as  such, 
presents  no  rich  and  exhatistless  field  of  prayerful  and  de- 
lighted investigation;"  that  when  Pre-Millennialists  "  dilate 
upon  the  prominence  given  to  this  doctrine  in  Scripture, 


ITS  RELATION  TO  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE.          273 

and  the  practical  uses  which  are  made  of  it,  they  touch  a 
chord  in  the  heart  of  every  simple  lover  of  his  Lord;"  and 
that  "  there  is  a  range  of  truth  connected  with  it,  *  * 
from  which  it  is  as  vain,  as  it  were  undesirable,  to  dislodge 
them."  Such  an  acknowledgment  from  such  a  source  may 
seem  strange,  but  that  it  was  demanded  will  be  apparent, 
when  it  is  remembered  that,  apart  from  the  book  of  Revela- 
tion, more  than  one  twentieth  of  the  New  Testament  is 
occupied  with  the  doctrine  of  our  Lord's  second  coming. 
If  the  last  book  of  the  Bible  is  included,  as  all  bearing  upon 
the  last  days,  of  course  the  proportion  is  much  larger.  In 
the  Old  Testament  certainly  more  than  one  hundred  verses 
announce  His  second  coming  to  every  one  verse  that  proclaims 
His  first  coming;  and  while  the  second  is  often  mentioned 
without  any  allusion  to  the  first,  the  first  is  never  revealed 
without  ample  reference  to  the  second,  as  if  the  Holy  Ghost 
wished  to  hasten  over  the  humiliation  and  sufferings  of  the 
former,  and  rejoiced  to  dwell  upon  the  glory  and  grandeur 
of  the  latter. 

I.       RELATION  TO  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT. 

It  is  impossible,  within  a  brief  hour,  even  to  notice  the 
important  connections  in  which  the  Second  Advent  of  our 
Lord  is  presented  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  only  a  glance 
can  be  given  at  its  relation  to  the  general  teachings  of  the 
New  Testament.  But  only  a  glance  is  needed  to  convince 
the  attentive  reader  that  no  other  truth  whatever  is  so 
largely  and  so  variously  used  to  strengthen  the  faith  and 
quicken  the  interest  of  God's  dear  children  in  all  that  He 
has  been  pleased  to  make  known  to  them  of  doctrine  and 
of  duty.  It  may  almost  be  said  to  form  the  basis  of  every 
argument,  to  give  direction  to  every  appeal,  to  fill  out  every 
exhortation,  to  terminate  every  warning  ;  so  that  it  is  to 
other  truth  as  a  foundation  to  the  building,  as  a  feather  to 

18 


274  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

the  arrow,  as  ripened  fruit  to  the  bud  and  blossom,  as  eter- 
nity to  time. 

1.  Are  ministers  reminded  that  they  must  present  some- 
thing more  than  professions  and  brilliant  achievements  to- 
commend  them  to  the  Master's  favor?      "Many  will  say 
to  me  in  that  day,  Lord,  Lord,  have  we  not  prophesied  in 
Thy  name  ?  And  in  Thy  name  have  cast  out  devils  ?  and  in 
Thy  name  done  many  wonderful  works  ?     And  then  will  I 
profess  unto  them,  I  never  knew  you;  depart  from  Me,  ye 
that  work  iniquity."     (Matt.  7:  22,  23.) 

2.  Are  the  disciples,  when  they  resume  their  special  mis- 
sion to  Israel,  cheered  amid  the  trials  to  which  thy  shall  be 
exposed?     "When  they  persecute  you  in  this  city,  flee  ye 
into  another;  for  verily  I  say  unto  you,  ye  shall  not  have 
gone  over  the  cities  of  Israel  till  the  Son  of  Man  be  come." 
(Matt.  10:  23.) 

3.  Are  His  servants  put  on  their  guard  against  the  pleas- 
ing delusion  of  expecting  the  triumph  of  His  cause  during 
the  interval  of  His  absence  in  the  heavens?     "  But  a  fourth 
part  of  the  scattered  seed  takes  effect,  and  this  in  various 
degrees  of  fruitfulness;  the  tares  grow  with  the  wheat  until 
the  harvest,  at  the  end  of  the  age;  the  birds  of  the  air, 
which  He  Himself  explains   as  meaning  the  Wicked  One, 
lodge  in  the  branches  of  the  great  tree  ;  a  Woman  conceals 
that  which  is  incipient  putrefaction  in  three  measures  of 
meal,  until  the  whole  is  leavened ;  and  not  until  the  coming  of 
Christ  will  the  wicked  be  severed  from  the  just."   (Matt.  13.) 

4.  Is  the  gain  of  the  whole  world  worse  than  worthless 
if  purchased  at  the  price  of  losing  the  soul?     "What  is  a 
man  profited,  if  he  shall  gain  the  whole  world,  and  lose  his 
own  soul  ?  or  what  shall   a  man  give  in  exchange  for  his 
soul  ?     The  Son  of  Man    shall  come  in  the  glory  of  His 
Father,  with  His  angels,  and  then  He  shall   reward  every 
man  according  to  his  works."     (Matt.  16:  26,27.) 


ITS  RELATION  TO  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE.         275 

5.  Are  the  Apostles  told  of  the  dignity  that  awaits  them? 
"  Yerily,  I  say  unto  you,  That  ye  which  have  followed  me, 
in  the  Regeneration  when  the  Son  of  Man  shall  sit  in  the 
throne  of  His  glory,  ye  shall  sit  upon  twelve  thrones,  judg- 
ing the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel."     (Matt.  19:  28.) 

6.  Is  Israel  meanwhile  to  be  forsaken  for  the  rejection  of 
the  Messiah  ?     "  Behold  your  house  is  left  unto  you  deso- 
late.    For  I  say  unto  you,  Ye  shall  not  see  Me  henceforth, 
till  ye  shall  say,  Blessed  is  He  that  cometh  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord."     (Matt.  23:  38,  39.) 

7.  Is  the  close  of  Israel's  troubled  history  in  unparalleled 
tribulation  the  speedy  precursor  of  another  and  far  more 
momentous  event?     "Immediately  after  the  tribulation  of 
those  days  shall  the  sun  be  darkened,  and  the  moon  shall 
not  give  her  light,  and  the  stars  shall  fall  from  heaven,  and 
the  powers  of  the  heavens  shall  be  shaken,  and  then  shall 
appear  the  sign  of  the  Son  of  Man  in  heaven;  and  then 
shall  all  the  tribes  of  the  earth  mourn,  and  they  shall  see 
the  Son  of  Man  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  with  power 
and  great  glory."     (  Matt.  24:  29,  30.) 

8.  Is  the  moral  condition  of  the  world  at  His  coming 
described?     "As  the  days  of  NOG  were,  so  shall  also  the 
coming  of  the  Son  of  Man   be.     For  as  in  the  days  that 
were  before  the  flood,  they  were  eating  and  drinking,  mar- 
rying and  giving  in  marriage,  until  the  day  that  Noe  entered 
into  the  ark,  and  the  flood  came  and  took  them  all  away;  so 
shall  also  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man  be."     (Matt.  24: 
37-39.) 

9.  Is  a  warning  uttered  against   the  error,  now  so  com- 
mon in    the  Church,  of  saying,  "  My  Lord  delayeth  His 
coming,"  with  its  consequent  worldliness?     "  The  Lord  of 
that  servant  shall  come  in  a  day  when  he  looketh    not  for 
Him,  and  in  an  hour  that  he  is  not  aware  of,  and  shall  cut 
him  asunder,  and  appoint  him  his  portion  with   the  hypo- 
crites."    (Matt.  24:  50,  51.) 


276  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

10.  Is  the  spiritual  state  of  the  Church  at  the  second  Ad- 
vent portrayed?     "Then  shall  the  Kingdom  of  heaven  be 
likened  unto  ten  virgins,  which  took  their  lamps,  and  went 
forth  to  meet  the  bridegroom.     And  five  of  them  were  wise 
and   five  were  foolish.     *     *     *     While   the  bridegroom 
tarried   they  all  slumbered  and  slept.     And  at  midnight 
there  was  a  cry  made,  Behold,  the  bridegroom  cometh;  go 
ye  out  to  meet  Him."     (Matt.  25:  1-13.) 

11.  Is  an  account  to  be  rendered  of  all  the  talents  reT 
ceived  by  the  followers  of  Christ?     "After  a  long  time,  the 
lord  of  those  servants  cometh,  and  reckoneth  with  them." 
(Matt.  25:  19.) 

12.  Is  judgment  in  store  for  the  nations,  as  the  result  of 
their  conduct  toward  those  designated  as  the  brethren  of 
Christ?     "  When  the  Son  of  Man  shall  come  in  His  glory, 
and  all  the  holy  angels  with  Him,  then  shall  He  sit  upon  the 
throne  of  His  glory;  and  before  Him  shall  be  gathered  all 
nations. "     (Matt.  25:  31-36.) 

13.  Does  Jesus,  before  the  high  priest,  and  in  the  face  of 
death,  assert  His  claims  as  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God? 
"Hereafter  shall  ye  see  the  Son  of  Man  sitting  on  the  right 
hand   of  Power,   and  coming  in   the  clouds  of  heaven." 
(Matt.  26:  64.) 

14.  Does  He  warn  men  of  the  danger  of  being  ashamed 
of  Himself  and  of  His  words,  including,  of  course,  His  words 
about  His  second  Advent?'    "Whosoever,  therefore,  shall  be 
ashamed  of  Me,  and  of  My  words,  in  this  adulterous  and 
sinful  generation,  of  him  also  shall  the   Son  of  Man  be 
ashamed  when  He  cometh  in  the  glory  of  His  Father,  with 
the  holy  angels."     (Mark  8:  38.) 

15.  Does  He  urge  the  necessity  of  unwearying  watchful- 
ness?   "Take  ye  heed,  watch  and  pray;  for  ye  know  not 
when  the  time  is.     For  the  Son  of  Man  is  as  a  man  taking 
a  far  journey,  who  left  his  house  and  gave  authority  to  his 


ITS  RELATION  TO  CHRIST  TAN  DOCTRINE.         277 

servants,  and  to  every  man  his  work,  and  commanded  the 
porter  to  watch.  Watch  ye,  therefore,  for  ye  know  not 
when  the  master  of  the  house  cometh,  at  even,  or  at  mid- 
night, or  at  the  cock-crowing,  or  in  the  morning;  lest 
corning  suddenly,  he  find  you  sleeping.  And  what  I  say 
unto  you,  I  say  unto  all— Watch/'  (Mark  13:  33,  37.) 

16.  Does  He  enjoin  upon  His  servants  to  stand  with 
girded  loins,  and  burning  lights,  and  hands  upon  the  door? 
"  Let  your  loins  be  girded  about,  and  your  lights  burning; 
and  ye  yourselves  like  unto  men  that  wait  for  their  Lord, 
when  He  will  return  from  the  wedding;   that,  when  He 
cometh  and  knocketh,  they  may  open  unto  Him  immedi- 
ately."    (Luke  12:  35,36*.) 

17.  Does  He  promise  high  honor  to  those  who  keep  the 
posture  of  constant  watching?    "Blessed are  those  servants 
whom   the   Lord,  when   He   cometh,  shall  find  watching; 
verily  I  say  unto  you,  that  He  shall  gird  himself,  and  make 
them  to  sit  down  to  meat,  and  will  come  forth  and  serve 
them.     And  if  He  shall  come  in  the  second  watch,  or  come 
in  the  third  watch,  and  find  them  so,  blessed  are  those  ser- 
vants."    (Luke  12:  37,  38.) 

18.  Does  He  press  the  need  of  continual  readiness  for 
His  personal  advent?     "  Be  ye  therefore  ready  also;  for  the 
Son  of  Man  cometh  at  an  hour  when  ye  think  not."     (Luke 
12:40.) 

19.  Does  He  teach  the  universal  prevalence  of  worldli- 
ness  at  His  appearing?     "As  it  was  in  the  days  of  Lot;  they 
did  eat,  they  drank,  they  bought,  they  sold,  they  planted, 
they  builded ;  but  the  same  day  that  Lot  went  out  of  Sodom, 
it  rained  fire  and  brimstone  from   heaven,  and  destroyed 
them  all.     Even  thus  shall  it  be  in  the  day  when  the  Son 
of  Man  is  revealed."     (Luke  17:  28-30.) 

20.  Does  He  foretell  the  sad  and  sudden  separations 
that  shall  then  occur?     "  I  tell  you  that  in  that  night  there 


278  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

shall  be  two  men  in  one  bed;  the  one  shall  be  taken  and  the 
other  shall  be  left.  Two  women  shall  be  grinding  together; 
the  one  shall  be  taken  and  the  other  left.  Two  men  shall 
be  in  the  field;  the  one  shall  be  taken  and  the  other  left.'' 
(Luke  IT:  34-36.) 

21.  Does  He  predict  universal  apostacy  as  the  conse- 
quence of  the  failure  of  the  Church  to   watch   for  Him, 
according  to  His  repeated  commands?     "When  the  Son  of 
Man    cometh,    shall   He   find  [the]    faith   on  the  earth?" 
(Luke  18: 8.) 

22.  Does  He  charge  us  to  be  occupied  with  Himself, 
and  for  Himself  till  He  come?     "A  certain  nobleman  went 
into  a  far  country  to  receive  for  himself  a  kingdom,  and  to 
return.     And  he  called  his  ten  servants,  and  delivered  them 
ten  pounds,   and    said   unto   them,  Occupy  till   I  come." 
(Luke  19: 12-27.) 

23.  Does  He  distinctly  inform    us  of  the  events  that 
shall  follow,  when  the  times -of  the  Gentiles  are   fulfilled? 
"  There  shall  be  signs  in  the  sun  and  in  the  moon  and  in  the 
stars;  and  upon  the  earth  distress  of  nations  with  perplex- 
ity; the  sea  and  the  waves  roaring;  men's  hearts  failing 
them  for  fear,  and  for  looking  after  those  things  which  are 
coming  on  the  earth;  for  the  powers  of  heaven  shall  be 
shaken.     And  then  shall  they  see  the  Son  of  Man  coming 
in  a  cloud,  with  power  and  great  glory.     And  when  these 
things  begin  to  come  to  pass,  then  look  up  and  lift  up  your 
heads;  for  your  redemption  draweth  nigh."     (Luke  21:  25- 
28.) 

24.  Does  He  beseech  us  in  view  of  all  this  to  keep  our 
hearts  "  with  all  diligence,"  or,  as  it  is  in  the  margin,  "  above 
all  keeping?"     (Prov.  4:   23.)     "Take  heed  to  yourselves, 
lest  at  any  time  your  hearts  be  overcharged  with  sur'eiting 
and  drunkenness,  and  cares  of  this  life,  and  so  that  day 
come  upon  you  unawares.    For  as  a  snare  shall  it  come  on  all 


ITS  RELATION  TO  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE.         279 

them  that  dwell  on  the  face  of  the  whole  earth.  Watch  ye, 
therefore,  arid  praj  always  that  ye  may  be  accounted  worthy 
to  escape  all  these  things  that  shall  come  to  pass,  and  to 
stand  before  the  Son  of  Man.  (Luke  21:34-36.) 

25.  Does  He  exult  in  the  anticipation  of  the  time  when 
the  rebellious  province  of  earth  shall  be  brought  back  into 
communion  with  heaven,  and  His  own  royal  person  shall 
be  the  link  of  restored  fellowship?     "  Yerily,  verily,  I  say 
unto  you,  hereafter  ye  shall  see  heaven  open,  and  the  angels 
of  God  ascending  and  descending  upon  the  Son  of  Man." 
(John  1:  51.) 

26.  Does  He  reveal  Himself  as  the  resurrection  of  His 
people  who  die,  and  as  the  deliverance  from  death  of  His 
people  who  shall  be  living  at  His  advent?     "  I  am  the  res- 
urrection and  the  life;  he  that  belie veth  in  Me,  though  he 
were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live;  and  whosoever  hveth  and  be- 
Keveth  in  Me  shall  never  die."     (John  11:25,  26.) 

27.  Does  He  cheer  the  hearts  of  His  disciples,  saddened 
by  the  announcement  of  His  departure?     "In  My  Father's 
house  are  many  mansions;    if  it  were  not  so,  I  would  have 
told  you.     I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you.     And  if  I  go 
and  prepare  a  place  for  you,  I  will  come  again,  and  receive 
you  unto  Myself;  that  where  I  am,  there  ye  may  be  also." 
(John  14:  2,  3.) 

28.  Does  He  set  forth  the  offer  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  re- 
lation to  Himself  and  His  second  appearing?     "Howbeit, 
when  He,  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  is  come,  He  will  guide  you 
into  all  truth  ;  for  He  shall  not  speak  of  Himself;  but  what- 
soever He  shall  hear,  that  shall  He  speak;  and  He  will  shew 
you  things  to  come.     He  shall  glorify  me;  for  He  shall  re- 
ceive of  mine,  and  shall  shew  it  unto  you."     (John  16:  13, 
14.) 

29.  Does  He  seek  to  impress  the  Apostles  with  the  im- 
portance of  looking  for  Him  constantly  by  His  remarkable 


280  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

statement  concerning  John?  "  If  I  will  that  he  tarry  till  I 
come,  what  is  that  to  thee?  Follow  thou  me.  Then  went 
this  saying  abroad  among  the  brethren,  that  that  disciple 
should  not  die:  yet  Jesus  said  not  unto  him,  He  shall  not 
die;  but,  If  I  will  that  he  tarry  till  I  come,  what  is  that  to 
thee?"  (John  21:  22-23.) 

30.  Does  He  give  an  intimation,  as  a  powerful  stimulus 
to  what  is  called  missionary  effort,  when  the  age  of  conflict 
and  cross-bearing,  so  dark  without  the  light  of  his  mani- 
fested presence,  shall  close?     "  This  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom 
shall  be  preached  in  all  the  world  for  a  witness  unto  all  na- 
tions; and  then  shall  the  end  come."     (Matt.  24:  14.) 

31.  Meanwhile,  were  the  disciples  to  be  animated  in  the 
midst  of  their  toil  by  an  assurance  that  would  gladden  their 
hearts,   and    nerve    their   energies?     "While  they  looked 
steadfastly  toward  heaven,  as  he  went  up,  behold,  two  men 
stood  by  them  in  white  apparel;    which  also  said.  Ye  men 
of  Galilee,  why  stand  ye  gazing  up  into  heaven  ?     This  same 
Jesus  which  is  taken  up  from  you  into  heaven  shall  so  come 
in  like   manner  as    ye  have   seen  Him  go  into  heaven. 'r 
(Acts  1:  10,  11.) 

32.  Did  they  hail  the  day  of  Pentecost  as  a  type  and 
pledge  of  the  mightier  outpouring  of  the  Spirit,  that  like  a 
sea  of  glory  shall  spread  from  pole  to  pole,  when  Jesus 
comes?     "  This  is  that  which  wag  spoken  by  the  prophet 
Joel:  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  last  days,  saith  God, 
I  will  pour  out  of  my  Spirit  upon  all  flesh;    and  your  sons 
and  your  daughters  shall  prophecy,  and  your  young  men 
shall  see  visions,  and  your  old  men  shall  dream  dreams; 
and  on   my  servants  and  on   my  handmaidens  I  will  pour 
out,  in  those  days,  of  rny  Spirit;    and  they  shall  prophecy; 
and  I  will  show  wonders  in  heaven  above  and  signs  in  the 
earth  beneath;  blood,  and  fire,  and  vapor  of  smoke;  the  sun 
shall   be   turned    into   darkness  and  the  moon  into  blood,. 


ITS  RELATION  TO  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE.         281 

before  that  great  and  notable  day  of  the  Lord  come."     (Acts 
2:  16-20.) 

33.  Did  they  seek  under  the  guidance  of  the  Spirit  for 
the  most  searching  and  arousing  motive  to  induce  men  to 
turn  unto  God?     "Repent  ye,  therefore,  and  be  converted, 
that  your  sins  may  be  blotted  out,  when  [in  order  that]  the 
times  of  refreshing  shall  come  from   the  presence  of  the 
Lord;    and  He  (the  Father)  shall  send  Jesus  Christ,  which 
before  was  preached    unto  you:    whom  the   heaven  must 
receive  until  the  times  of  restitution  of  all  things,  which  God 
hath  spoken  by  the  mouth  of  all  His  holy  prophets  since  the 
world  began."     (Acts  3:  19-21.) 

34.  Did  they  tell  believers  what  to  expect  from  an  un- 
friendly world?     It  is  their  testimony,  not  for  that  day  only,, 
but  for  the  entire  age  in  which  we  live,   "  that  we  must 
through  much  tribulation  enter  into  the  Kingdom  of  God." 
(Acts  14:  22);  and  there  is  not  a  hint  that  it  will  be  other- 
wise till  Jesus  comes. 

35.  Did  the   whole  college   of  Apostles  announce  the 
divine  purpose  with  respect  to  the  times  of  the  Gentiles,  and 
the  order  of  His  procedure  in  the  conversion  of  the  world? 
"  God,  at  the  first,  did  visit  the  Gentiles,  to  takeout  of  them 
a  people  for  His  name.     [This  is  all  He  intends  to  do  in 
the  present  dispensation.]     And  to  this  agree  the  words  of 
the   prophets,  as  it   is  written,   After   this  I   will  return 
[that  is,  after  He  has  taken  out  of  the  Gentiles  a  people 
for   His  name],    and  will   build   again   the   tabernacle   of 
David,  which  is  fallen  down;  and  I  will  build  again  the 
ruins   thereof,  and  I  will    set  it  up.     [So  He  takes   Israel 
again  into  national  and  covenant  relations  to  Himself  after 
His  personal  return;  and  then  the  grand  and  ultimate  pur- 
pose is  stated:]  That  the  residue  of  men  might  seek  after 
the  Lord,  and  all  the  Gentiles,  upon  whom  My  name  is  called, 
saith  the  Lord,  who  doeth  all  these  things."  (Acts  15: 14-17.) 


282  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

36.  Is  the  curse   hat  is  eating  like  a  cancer  into  the  bosom 
of  the  lower  creation  to  be  removed?     "  The  earnest  expec- 
tation of  the  creature  waiteth  for  the  manifestation  of  the 
sons  of  God  [at  the  second  coming  of  Christ;  see  Col.  3:  4; 
1  John  3:  2].     Because  the  creature   itself  also  shall    be 
delivered  from  the  bondage  of  corruption  into  the  glorious 
liberty  of  the  children  of  God.     For   we  know    that   the 
whole  creation  groaneth  and  travaileth   in   pain   together 
until  now.     And  not  only  they,  but  ourselves  also,  which 
have  the  first  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  even  we  ourselves  groan 
within  ourselves,  waiting  for  the  adoption,  to-wit:  the  re- 
demption of  the  body,"  at  the  second  coming  of  Christ. 
[See  1  Thess.  4:  16,  17;  1  Cor.  15:  33]  (Rom.  8:  19-23). 

37.  Is  the  curse  to  be  lifted  from  Israel,  of  whom  it  is 
eaid,  "  even  unto  this  day,  when   Moses  is  read,  the  vail  is 
upon  their  heart?"  (2  Cor.  3:  15.)     "Blindness  in  part  is 
happened  to  Israel,  until  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  be  come 
in.     And  so  all  Israel  shall  be  saved:  as  it  is  written,  There 
shall  come  out  of  Sion  the  Deliverer,  and  shall  turn  away 
ungodliness  from  Jacob."     (Rom.  11:  25,  26.) 

38.  Do  we  desire  to  reach  the  climax  and  crown  of  Chris- 
tian attainments  in  grace  and  in  knowledge?     It  is  declared 
by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  be  "waiting  for  the  coming  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ;  who  shall  also  confirm  you  unto  the  end, 
that  ye  may  be  blameless  in  the  day  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ."     (1  Cor.  1:  4-8.) 

39.  Are  we  forbidden  to  judge  one  another,  and  com- 
manded   to    be   indifferent  to  the  decision  of  man's   day? 
"  Therefore  judge  nothing  before  the  time,  until  the  Lord 
come."     (1  Cor.  4:  5.) 

40.  Are  we  raised  above  the  ways  of  the  world  by  the 
assurance  of  association  with  Him  in  the  judgment  at  His 
coming?     u  Do  ye  not  know  that  the  saints  shall  judge  the 
world?     *    *     *     Know  ye  not  that  we  shall  judge  angels?" 
<1  Cor.  6:  2,  3.) 


ITS  RELATION  TO  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE.         283 

41.  Is  it  the  privilege  of  believers  to  come  to  the  Lord's 
table,  and  are  all  believers  there  at  least  the  witnesses,  con- 
sciously or  unconsciously,  willingly  or  unwillingly,   to  the 
truth  of  His  second  coming?     "As  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread, 
and  drink  this  cup,  ye  do  show  the  Lord's  death  till  He 
conies."     (ICor.  11:26.) 

42.  Is  the  resurrection  of  the  body  a  cardinal  article  of 
their  belief?      "  Every  man  in  his  own  order;  Christ  the 
first  fruits;  afterward  they  that  are  Christ's  at  His  coming." 
(1  Cor.  15:23.) 

43.  Does  a  tremendous  curse  await  those  who  withhold 
their  affections  from  the  Son  of  God?     "  If  any  man  love 
not  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  let  him  be  anathema  maranatha." 
[the  Lord  cometh.]     (1  Cor.  16:  22.) 

44.  Is  there  to  be  mutual  joy  between  faithful  ministers 
and  their  people  in  His  presence?"     "  Ye  have  acknowl- 
edged us  in  part,  that  we  are  your  rejoicing,  even  as  ye  also 
are  ours  in  the  day  of  the  Lord  Jesus."     (2  Cor.  1 : 14.) 

45.  Should  it  be  the  aim,  ambition,  point  of  honor,  with 
believers  to  be  well  pleasing  unto  Him?     "  For  we  must  all 
appear  [be   made   manifest]   before  the  judgment  seat   of 
Christ."     (2  Cor.  5:  10.) 

46.  Are  they  confidently  expecting  the  complete  fulfill- 
ment of  God's  promise  to  His  children?     uWe  through  the 
Spirit  wait  for  the  hope  of  righteousness  by  faith;"  (Gal.  5: 
5)  the  hope  of  the  New  Testament  being  always  associated 
with  the  second  coming  of  Christ.     See  Acts  23:  6;  26:  6, 
7;  28:  20;  Romans  5:2;  8:  24;  Col.l:  5;  Tit.,  2:  13;  1  Pet. 
1:  3;  1  John  3:  2,  3. 

47.  Has  God  marked  us  as  His  own  by  sealing  us  with 
the  Holy  Spirit  of  promise,  which  is  the  earnest  of  our  in- 
heritance, and  so  gives  us  the  enjoyment  of  His  love.     It  is 
"  until  the  redemption  of  the  purchased  possession,"  at  the 
second  coming  of  Christ.     (Eph.  1 :  14.) 


284  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

48.  Does  this  make  it  the  more  incumbent  upon  us  to 
walk  in  unhindered  communion  with  our  abiding  Comforter? 
"  Grieve  not  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  whereby  ye  are  sealed 
unto  the  day  of  redemption.'      (Eph.  4:  30.) 

49.  Will  the  purpose  of  the  Saviour  in  His  atoning  work 
be  accomplished?     "  Christ  also  loved  the  church,  and  gave 
Himself  for  it;  that  He  might  sanctify  and  cleanse  it  with 
the  waghing  of  water  by  the  word,  that  He  might  present  it 
to  Himself  [at  His  coming]  a  glorious  church,  not  having 
spot,  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing;  but  that  it  should  be 
holy  and  without  blemish."     (Eph.  5:  25-27.) 

50.  Can  we  depend  upon  the  perseverance  of  theLordin 
the   work  of  Salvation?     "Being  confident   of  this   very 
thing,  that  He  which  hath  begun  a  good  work  in  you,  will 
perform  it  until  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ."     (Phil.  1:  6.) 

51.  Does  His  persevering  love  demand  the  response  from 
us  of  lofty  aims  and  truthfulness  and  blamelessness?    "  That 
ye  may  approve  things  that  are  excellent;  that  ye  may  be 
sincere  and  without  offence  till  the  day  of  Christ."     (Phil. 
1:10.) 

52.  Is  the  thought  of  His  coming  an  incentive  to  minis- 
terial fidelity  and  zeal?     "  Holding  forth  the  word  of  life; 
that  I  may  rejoice  in  the  day  of  Christ,  that  I  have  not  run 
in  vain,  neither  labored  in  vain."     (Phil.  2:  16.) 

53.  Is  the  government  to  which  our  allegiance  is  due 
clearly  defined?     "  Our  conversation  [citizenship,  or  coun- 
try, or  commonwealth]  is  in  heaven;  from  whence  also  we 
look  for  the  Saviour,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  who  shall  change 
our  vile  body,  that  it  may  be  fashioned  like  unto  His  glori- 
ous body."     (Phil.  3:  20,21.) 

54.  Is   it   becoming  in    us    to   exhibit    gentleness    and 
patience  of  spirit?     "  Let  your  moderation  be  known  unto 
all  men.     The  Lord  is  at  hand."     (Phil.  4:  5.) 

55.  Are  we  called   to  put  to  death  our  fleshy  appetites? 


ITS  RELATION  TO  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 

"  When  Christ,  who  is  our  life,  shall  appear,  then  shall  ye 
also  appear  with  Him  in  glory.  Mortify,  THEREFORE,  your 
members  which  are  upon  the  earth."  (Col.  3:  4,  5.) 

56.  Are  believers,  converted  from  heathenism,  described 
by  the  Holy  Ghost?     "Ye  turned  to  God  from  idols,  to 
serve  the  living  and  true  God:  and  to  wait  for  His  Son 
from  heaven,  whom  He  raised  from  the  dead,  even  Jesus, 
which  delivered  us  from  the  wrath  to  come."     (1  Thess. 
1:  9,   10.) 

57.  Will  there  be  a  glad  recognition  of  those  who  have 
been  led  by  our  testimony  and  service  to  trust  in  the  Saviour 
of  sinners?     "  What  is  our  hope,  or  joy,  or  crown  of  rejoic- 
ing?   Are  not  even  ye  in  the  presence  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  at  His  coming?"     (1  Thess.  2:  19.) 

58.  Should  brotherly  love  increase  and  abound?     It  is 
"  to  the  end  He  may  establish  your  hearts  uublameable  in 
holiness  before  God,  even  our  Father,  at  the  coming  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  with  all  his  saints."     (1  Thess.  3:  13.) 

59.  Is  the  dark  cloud  of  sorrow  hanging  over  the  grave 
that  hides  our  precious  dead  tinged  with  the  golden  light 
of  hope?     "If  we  believe  that  Jesus  died  and  rose  again, 
even  so  them  also  which  sleep  in  Jesus  will  God  bring 
with  Him."     (1  Thess.  4:  14.) 

60.  Have  we  the  assurance  of  being  with  them  again  in 
a  bright  and  happy  day?     "  The  Lord  Himself  shall  descend 
from  heaven  with  a  shout,  with  the  voice  of  the  archangel, 
and  with   the   trump  of  God;  and  the  dead  in  Christ  shall 
rise  first;    then  we   which   are   alive  and  remain,  shall  be 
caught  up  together  with  them   in   the   clouds,  to  meet  the 
Lord  in  the  air;  and   so    shall  we   ever   be   with  the  Lord. 
Wherefore   comfort   one   another  with  these  words."     (1 
Thess.  4:  16-18.) 

61.  Were  recently  converted  heathens  taught  by  the  in- 
spired apostle,  during  his  brief  visit  among  them,  what  to 


286  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

expect?  "Of  the  times  and  the  seasons,  brethren,  ye  have 
no  need  that  I  write  unto  you.  For  yourselves  know  per- 
fectly that  the  day  of  the  Lord  so  cometh  as  a  thief  in  the 
night.  For  when  they  shall  say,  peace  and  safety,  then 
sudden  destruction  cometh  upon  them,  as  travail  upon  a 
woman  with  child;  and  they  shall  not  escape.  But  ye 
brethren,  are  not  in  darkness,  that  that  day  should  overtake 
you  as  a  thief.  Ye  are  all  the  children  of  light,  and  the 
children  of  the  day;  we  are  not  of  the  night,  nor  of  dark- 
ness. Therefore  let  us  not  sleep,  as  do  others ;  but  let  us 
watch  and  be  sober."  (1  Thess.  5:  1-6.) 

62.  Is  practical   and  entire   holiness  to  be  sought  with 
unceasing  diligence?     "The   very   God   of  peace  sanctify 
you  whol/y ;  and  I  pray  God  your  whole  spirit  and  soul  and 
body  be  preserved  blameless  unto  the  coming  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ."     (1  Thess.  5:  23.) 

63.  Is  a  terrible  punishment  awaiting  the  despisers  and 
neglecters   of  God's   grace   and   God's  Son?     "The  Lord 
Jesus  shall  be  revealed  from  heaven  with  His  mighty  angels, 
in  flaming  fire  taking  vengeance  upon  them  that  know  not 
God,  and  that  obey  not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ; 
who  shall  be  punished  with  everlasting  destruction  from 
the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  from  the  glory  of  His  power; 
when  He  shall  come  to  be  glorified  in  His  saints,  and  to  be 
admired  in  all  them  that  believed  (because  our  testimony 
among  you  was  believed  )  in  that  day."  (2  Thess.  1:  7-10.) 

64.  Are  Christians  distinctly  told  of  the  course  of  events 
from  the  apostles'  times  to  the  personal  appearing  of  the 
Lord?     "  Now  we  beseech  you,  brethren,  by  the  coming  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  by  our  gathering  together  unto 
Him,  that  ye  be  not  soon  shaken  in  mind,  or  be  troubled, 
neither  by  spirit,  nor  by  word,  nor  by  letter,  as  from  us,  as 
that  the  day  of  Christ  is  at  hand,"  literally,  is  present,  has 
come,  has  set  in.     That  day  can  not  come  except  that  there 


ITS  RELATION  TO  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE.          287 

first  comes  the  apostacy,  for  the  mystery  of  iniquity  already 
working  then  like  leaven  shall  spread  more  and  more,  until 
the  Antichrist  is  developed,  whom  the  Lord  shall  consume 
with  the  spirit  [or  breath]  of  His  mouth,  and  shall  destroy 
with  the  brightness  [everywhere  else  translated  appearing] 
of  His  coming,"  or  presence.  (2  Thess.  2:  1-8.) 

65.  In  the  knowledge  of  this  do  we  need  to  stay  our 
minds  upon  Him  who  can   never  fail?     " The  Lord  direct 
your  hearts  into  the  love  of  God,  and  into  the  patient  wait- 
ing for  Christ."     ( 2  Thess.  3:  5.) 

66.  Is  the  note  of  warning  again  sounded  against   the 
error   of  expecting  the   triumph  of  good  till  He  comes? 
"  Now  the  Spirit  speaketh  expressly,  that  in  the  latter  times 
some  shall  depart  from  the  faith,  giving  heed  to  seducing 
spirits,  and  doctrines  of  devils;  speaking  lies  in  hypocrisy, 
having  their  conscience  seared  witli  a  hot  iron.  *    *    *     If 
thou  put  the   brethren  in  remembrance  of  these   things, 
thou  shalt  be  a  good  minister  of  Jesus  Christ."     (1  Tim. 
4  :  1-6.) 

67.  Is  steadfast  obedience  enforced  by  the  most  solemn 
considerations?     "  I  give  thee  charge  in  the  sight  of  God, 
who  quickeneth   all  things,  and  before  Jesus  Christ,  who 
before  Pontius  Pilate  witnessed    a  good  confession;  that 
thou  keep  this  commandment  without  spot,  unrebukable, 
until  the  appearing  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."     (1  Tim. 
6:  13,  14.) 

68.  Are  the  characteristic  features  of  the  last  days  as  un- 
like the  common  anticipation  of  the  progress  of  truth  and 
righteousness,  as  darkness  is  unlike  light?     "This  kn«>\v 
also,  that  in  the  last  days  perilous  times  shall  come.     For 
men  shall  be  lovers  of  their  own  selves,  covetous,  boasters, 
proud,  blasphemers,  disobedient  to  parents,  unthankful,  un- 
holy, without  natural  affection,  true  breakers,  false  accusers, 
incontinent,  fierce,  despisers  of  those  that  are  good,  traitors, 


288  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

heady,  high  minded,  lovers  of  pleasures  more  than  lovers  of 
God;  having  a  form  of  godliness,  but  denying  the  power 
thereof  *  *  *  But  evil  men  and  seducers  shall  wax  worse 
and  worse,  deceiving  and  being  deceived."  (2  Tim.  3:  1-5.) 

69.  Because  of  these  abounding  evils  in  the   Church  are 
ministers  to  be  doubly  on  their  guard  against  the  tempta- 
tion to  preach  sensational  and  unscriptural  sermons?     "I 
charge  thee  therefore  before  God,  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
who  shall  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead,  and  by  his  appear- 
ing and  kingdom   [so  Alford  on  the  authority  of  all  the 
oldest  MSS.]  preach  the  Word."     (2  Tim.  4:  1,  2.) 

70.  Is  there  something   left  to  cheer   the  heart  of  the 
faithful  witness  for  Christ,  even  when  the  people  will  no 
longer  "endure  sound  doctrine,   but  after  their  own  lusts 
shall  they  heap  to  themselves  teachers,  having  itching  ears, 
and  they  shall  turn  away  their  ears  from  the  truth,  and  shall 
be  turned  unto  fables?     I  have  fought  a  good  fight;  I  have 
finished  my  course;"  "I  have  kept  the  faith;  henceforth 
there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the 
Lord,  the  righteous  judge,  shall  give  me  at  that  day;  and 
not  to  me  only,  but  unto  them  also  that  love  his  appearing." 
(2  Tim.  4:  7,  8.) 

71.  Are  ministers  told  what  to  preach?     "The  grace  of 
God  that  bringeth  salvation   hath   appeared   to   all   men, 
teaching  us  that,  denying  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  we 
should  live  soberly,  righteously,  and  godly  in  this  present 
world,  looking  for  that  blessed  hope,  and   the  glorious  ap- 
pearing of  the  great  God  and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.     * 

*    *    These  things  speak."     (Tit.  2:  11-15.) 

72.  Does  God  intend  that  His  son  shall  be  crowned  with 
glory  and  honor  on  the  very  theatre  of  His  humiliation  and 
death?     "  But  when  he  again  hath  introduced  the  first 
begotten  into  the  world,  he  saith.  and  let  all  the  angels  of 
God  worship  him."     (Heb.  1:  6.)  Alford's  translation. 


ITS  DELATION  TO  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE.  289 

73.  Is  faith  in  the  second  Advent  essential  to  salvation? 
"Christ  was  offered  to  bear  the  sins  of  many;    and   unto 
them  that  look  for  Him  shall  He  appear  the  second  time, 
without  sin,  unto  salvation."     (Heb.  9:  28.) 

74.  Has  it  pleased  the  Comforter  to  console  His  people 
in  the  midst  of  reproaches  and  afflictions,  and  despised  com- 
panionships and  the  spoiling  of  their  goods?     "Yet  a  little 
while,  and  He  that  shall  come  will  come,  and  will  not  tarry." 
(Heb.  10:37.) 

75.  Is  a  spirit  of  resolute  endurance  required  under  the 
pressure  of  temptation?     "  Blessed  is  the  man  that  endureth 
temptation;  for  when  he  is  tried  [everywhere  else  rendered 
approved],  he  shall  receive  the  crown  of  life  (at  Christ's 
second  coming;  see  Tim.  4:  18,  Rev.  2: 10),  which  the  Lord 
has  promised  to  them  that  love  Him."     (Jas.  1:  12.) 

76.  Is  the  heart  burdened  by  the  crimes  and  cruelties 
that  meet  the  eye,  and  by  the  cries  of  the  oppressed  that 
reach  the  ear  every  day?     "  Be  patient,  therefore,  brethren, 
unto  the  coining  of  the  Lord.     Behold  the  husbandman 
waiteth  for  the  precious  fruit  of  the  earth,  and  hath  long 
patience  for  it,  until  he  receive  the  early  and  latter  rain. 
Be  ye  also  patient;  stablish  your  hearts;  for  the  coming  of 
the  Lord  draweth  nigh."     (Jas.  5:  7-8.) 

77.  Is  murmuring  against  one  another  unseemly  while  the 
world's  destruction  lowers,  and  glory  is  dawning  for  believ- 
ers?    "Grudge  not  one  against  another,  brethren,  lest  ye 
be  condemned;  behold  the  Judge  standeth  before  the  door." 
(Jas.  5:  9.) 

78.  Is  there  cause  for  great  rejoicing  even  when  in  heavi- 
ness  through  manifold  temptations?     "That  the  trial  of 
your  faith,  being  more  precious  than  of  gold  that  perisheth, 
though  it  be  tried  with  fire,  might  be  found  unto  praise  and 
honor  and  glory  at  the  appearing  of  Jesus  Christ."  (1  Pet, 

1:  7.) 
19 


290  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

79.  Was  the  completed  salvation,  to  be  brought  at  our 
Lord's  appearing,  the   subject  of  diligent   inquiry  by  the 
holy  men  of  old,  who  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the 
Holy  Ghost?     "Searching  what,  or  what  manner  of  time 
the  Spirit  of  Christ  which  was  in  the^n   did  signify,  when 
it  testified  beforehand  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  and   the 
glory  that  should  follow."     ( 1  Pet.  1:  11.) 

80.  Is  this  completed  salvation  an  object  set  before  us  in 
the  Gospel  to  arouse  and  to  strengthen?     ""Wherefore  gird 
up  the  loins  of  your  mind,  be  sober,  and  hope  to  the  end  for 
the  grace  that  is  to  be  brought  unto  you  at  the  revelation 
of  Jesus  Christ."     (1  Pet.  1:  13.)  . 

81.  Are  we  to  live  with  His  promised  revelation  con- 
stantly in  view?     "The  end  of  all  things  is  at  hand;  be 
therefore  sober,  and  watch  unto  prayer."     (1  Pet.  4:  7.) 

82.  Does  His  expected  revelation  turn  the  sufferings  to 
which  we  are  exposed  as  Christains  into  an  occasion  of  re- 
joicing?    "  Rejoice,  inasmuch  as  ye  are  partakers  of  Christ's 
sufferings;  that,  when  His  glory  shall  be  revealed,  ye  may 
be  glad  also  with  exceeding  joy."     (  1  Pet.  4:  13.) 

83.  Are  pastors  urged  to  fidelity  and  self-denying  labor, 
and  conduct  forming  an  example  to  the  flock?     "When 
the  Chief  Shepherd  shall  appear,  ye  shall  receive  a  crown 
of  glory  that  fadeth  not  away."     (1  Pet.  5:  4.) 

84:.  Have  we  more  sure  the  prophetic  word  by  the  signifi- 
cant and  typical  scene  on  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration? 
"  We  have  not  followed  cunningly  devised  fables  when  we 
made  known  unto  you  the  power  and  coming  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  but  were  eye  witnesses  of  His  majesty."  (2 
Pet.  1:  16.) 

85.  Are  Christians  warned  that  there  shall  be  false 
teachers  among  them,  and  that  a  sign  of  the  final  apostacy 
will  be  the  denial  of  Christ's  coming?  "Knowing  this 
first,  that  there  shall  come  in  the  last  days,  scoffers  walking 


ITS  RELATION  TO  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE.          291 

after  their  own  lusts,  and  saying,  where  is  the  promise  of 
his  coming?  for  since  the  fathers  fell  asleep,  all  things  con- 
tinue as  they  were  from  the  beginning  of  the  creation." 
(2  Pet.  3  :  3-i.) 

86.  Is  the  reason  given  for  the  tarrying  of  the  Lord  at 
the  right  hand  of  God?     "  The  Lord  is  not  slack  concerning 
His  promise,  as  some   men  count  slackness;  but  is   long 
snifering  to  us-ward,  but  not  willing  that  any  should  perish, 
but  that  all  should  come  to  repentance."     (2  Pet.  3:  9.) 

87.  Should   the   certainty  and   the   suddenness   of  His 
coming  keep  us  ever  on  the  alert,  armed  against  sin?    "  The 
day  of  the  Lord  will  come  as  a  thief  in  the  night,  *  *  what 
manner  of  persons  ought  ye  to  be  in  all  holy  conversation 
and  godliness;  looking  for  and  hasting  the  coming  of  the 
day  of  God."    (2  Pet.  3:  10-12.) 

88.  Is  the  only  safeguard  to  remain  in  unclouded  com- 
munion with  Christ?     "And  now,  little  children,  abide  in 
Him;  that,  when  He  shall  appear,  we  may  have  confidence, 
and  not  be  ashamed  before  Him  at  His  coming."     (1  John 
2  :  28.) 

89.  Do  we  wait  for  the  manifestation  of  our  high  call- 
ing and  dignity,  as  those  who  have  been  through  grace  made 
partakers  of  the  divine  nature?     "Beloved,  now  are  we  the 
sons  of  God;  and  it  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be;, 
but  we  know  that  when  He  shall  appear,  we  shall  be  like 
Him;  for  we  shall  see  Him  as  He  is.     (1  John  3:  2.) 

90.  Would  we  know  the  spirit  of  deceivers  and  of  Anti- 
christ?    "  For  many  deceivers  are  entered  into  the   world, 
who  confess  not  that  Jesus  Christ  is  come  (coming)  in  the 
flesh.     This  is  a  deceiver  and  an  Antichrist."     (2  John  7.) 

91.  Would  we  know  the  testimony  and  preaching  of  a 
man  who  walked  with  God,  and  pleased  God?  "Enoch,  also, 
the  seventh  from  Adam,  prophesied  of  these,  saying,  "  Be- 
hold, the  Lord  cometh  with  ten  thousand  of  His  saints,  to 
execute  judgment  upon  all."     (Jude  14: 15.) 


292  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

92.  Would  we  strike  the  key-note  of  the  last  book  of  the 
Bible?     "Behold,  He  cometh  with  clouds;  and  every  eye 
shall  see  Him,  and  they  also  which  pierced  Him;  and  all  kin- 
dreds of  the  earth   shall  wail  because  of  Him.     Even  so, 
Amen."     (Rev.  1:7.) 

93.  Amid  increasing  perils  are  we  to  keep  the  attain- 
ments hitherto  made   in   grace?      "That   which  ye   have 
already,  hold  fast  till  I  come."     (Kev.  2:  25.) 

94.  If  in  the  midst  of  these  perils  we  have  slipped,  are 
we    to   return   to   Him  from    whom   we  have   wandered? 
"  He  in  ember  therefore  how  thou  hast  received  and  heard; 
and   hold  fast,  and   repent.     If  therefore   thou   shalt   not 
watch,  I  will  come  on  thee  as  a  thief,  and  thou  shalt  not 
know  what  hour  I  will  come  upon  thee."     (Rev.  3:  3.) 

95.  Is  there  danger  of  growing  disheartened  by  the  sore 
conflict,  and  thus  of  losing  His  approval?   "Behold,  I  come 
quickly;  hold  that  fast  which  thou  hast  that  no  man  take 
thy  crown."     (Rev.  3: 11.) 

96.  Would    we    walk    in    shining    raiment   with    the 
redeemed?     "Behold,  I  come  as  a  thief.     Blessed  is  he  that 
watcheth,  and  keepeth  his  garments,  lest  he  walk  naked, 
and  they  see  his  shame."     (Rev.  16: 15.) 

97.  Does  the  Lord,  for  whom   the  weary  Church  has 
long  waited,  and  for  whom  suffering  creation  has  groaned, 
at  last  come  forth  in  glory  and  majesty?     "I  saw  heaven 
opened,  and  behold  a  white  horse;  and  He  that  sat  upon 
him    was   called    Faithful    and   True,    and    in    righteous- 
ness  He   doth  judge   and  make   war.     His  eyes  were   as 
a  flame  of  fire,  and  on  His  head  were  many  crowns;  and  He 
had  a   name  written  that  no  man  knew  but  He  Himself, 
And  He  was  clothed  with  a  vesture  dipped  in  blood;  and 
His  name  is  called  The  Word  of  God.     And   the  armies 
which    were  in  Heaven  followed  Him  upon  white  horses, 
clothed  in  fine  linen,  white  and  clean.     *     *     *     *     And 


ITS  RELATION  TO  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE.          293 
He  hatli  on  His  vesture  and  on  His  thigh  a  name  written, 

KING  OF  KINGS,  AND  LOKD  OF  LORDS."       (EeV.  19  I  11-16.) 

98.  Is  it  most  important  that  we  give  heed  to  the  prom- 
ises and  threatenings  and   teachings  of  God's  final  reve- 
lation  to  man?     "Behold,  I  come  quickly;  blessed  is  lie 
that  keepeth  the  sayings  of  the  prophecy  of  this  book." 
(Eev.  22:7.) 

99.  Do  we  desire  the  reward  which  our  returning  Lord 
will  delight  to  bestow  upon  His  faithful  servants?      "  Be- 
hold, I  come  quickly;  and  my  reward  is  with  Me  to  give 
every  man  according  as  his  work  shall  be."     (Rev.  22: 12.) 

100.  Above  all,  do  we  desire  Himself?     u  Surely  I  come 
quickly;  Amen."     And  surely  He  expects    to  hear  from 
every  heart  that  is  true  to  Him  the  eager  response,  even  so, 
come  Lord  Jesus."     (Rev.    22:20.)       With    these    sweet 
words  of  promise  falling  from  His  lips,  His  voice  is  heard 
no  more  on  earth,  and  the  Sacred  Scriptures  are  sealed  as 
complete. 

ADMISSIONS   OF    POST-MILLENNIALISTS. 

Very  many  similar  texts  might  be  quoted,  but  enough 
has  been  said  to  show  that  this  great  truth  runs  like  a  golden 
cord  through  the  entire  New  Testament  from  beginning  to 
end,  touching  every  doctrine,  binding  every  duty,  arousing, 
consoling,  directing,  guarding,  inspiring  the  believer  at 
every  step  of  his  pilgrimage.  As  a  motive,  an  incentive 
and  an  end,  it  has  a  prominence  assigned  to  no  other  thought. 
Wherever  we  turn  it  arrests  the  eye;  whatever  the  subject 
of  inquiry,  it  engages  the  attention  by  its  commanding 
presence.  In  the  fine  language  of  the  Rev.  John  Ker,  it  is 
"in  the  New  Testament  the  great  event  that  towers  above 
every  other.  The  heaven,  that  gives  back  Christ,  gives 
back  all  that  we  have  loved  and  lost,  solves  all  doubts  and 
ends  all  sorrows.  His  coming  looks  in  upon  the  whole  life 


SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


of  His  Church,  as  a  lofty  mountain  peak  looks  in  upon  every 
little  valley  and  sequestered  home  around  its  base,  and  be- 
longs to  them  all  alike.  Every  generation  lies  under  the 
shadow  of  it,  for  whatever  is  transcendently  great  is  con- 
stantly near,  and  in  moments  of  high  conviction  it  absorbs 
petty  interests  and  annihilates  intervals.  It  may  surely  be 
for  us  to  consider  whether  our  removal  of  Christ's  coming 
further  from  us  in  feeling  does  not  arise  from  a  less  vivid 
impression  of  its  reality  and  surpassing  moment."  (Ser- 
mons, p.  176.) 

It  is  one  purpose  of  this  Conference,  with  His  blessing, 
to  change  these  "  moments  of  high  conviction  "  into  the 
life-time  posture  of  the  soul;  and,  as  far  as  He  may  be 
pleased,  to  own  our  testimony  for  the  good  of  other  Chris- 
tians, in  the  words  oi  Professor  Hackett,  to  "  bring  both 
their  conduct  and  their  style  of  religious  instruction  into 
nearer  correspondence  with  the  lives  and  teaching  of  the 
primitive  examples  of  our  faith."  Again  he  says,  referring 
to  the  return  of  Christ  at  the  end  of  the  age,  u  that  event 
was  always  near  to  the  feelings  and  consciousness  of  the 
first  believers.  It  was  the  great  consummation  on  which 
the  strongest  desires  of  their  souls  were  fixed,  to  which  their 
thoughts  and  hopes  were  habitually  turned.  They  lived  in 
expectation  of  it;  they  labored  to  be  prepared  for  it;  they 
were  constantly,  in  the  expressive  language  of  Peter,  '  look- 
ing for  and  hastening  unto  it.'  The  Apostles,  the  first 
Christians  in  general,  comprehended  the  grandeur  of  that 
occasion;  it  filled  their  circle  of  view,  stood  forth  to  their 
contemplations  as  the  point  of  culminating  interest  in  their 
own  and  the  world's  history;  threw  into  comparative  in- 
significance the  present  time,  death,  all  intermediate  events, 
and  made  them  feel  that  the  manifestation  of  Christ,  with 
its  consequences  of  indescribable  moment  to  all  true  be- 
lievers, was  the  grand  object  which  they  were  to  keep  in 


ITS  RELATION  TO  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE.          295 

view  as  the  end  of  their  toils,  the  commencement  and  per- 
fection of  their  glorious  immortality.  In  such  a  state  of 
intimate  sympathy  with  an  event  so  habitually  present  to 
their  thoughts,  they  derived,  they  must  have  derived,  their 
chief  incentives  to  action  from  the  prospect  of  that  future 
glory;  they  hold  it  up  to  the  people  of  God  to  encourage 
them  in  affliction,  to  awaken  them  to  fidelity,  zeal,  and  per- 
severance, and  appeal  to  it  to  warn  the  wicked  and  impress 
upon  them  the  necessity  of  preparation  for'  the  revelations 
of  that  day."  [Hackett  on  Acts,  pp.  63,  64.] 

That  it  was  indeed  "  always  near  to  the  feelings  and  con- 
sciousness of  the  first  believers"  is  admitted  and  proved  by 
all  post-millennial  expositors  and  writers,  as  Drs.  Hodge, 
Barnes,  Brown  and  others;  that  the  Lord  Jesus  and  the 
Holy  Ghost  presented  it  as  an  object  of  hope  to  those  who 
lived  in  the  days  of  the  Apostles  must  also  be  apparent  to 
the  careful  reader  of  the  New  Testament;  and  this  is  the 
fact  that  sets  forth  in  the  clearest  and  strongest  light  the 
relation  of  Christ's  coming  to  Christian  doctrine.  It  is  a 
profound  remark  of  Trench,  speaking  of  the  tarrying  of 
the  bridegroom,  that  uwe  may  number  this  among  the 
many  hints,  which  were  given  by  our  Lord,  that  it  was  pos- 
sible the  time  of  His  return  might  be  delayed  beyond  the 
expectation  of  His  first  disciples.  It  was  a  hint,  and  no 
more;,  if  more  had  been  given,  if  the  Lord  had  said  plainly 
that  He  would  not  come  for  many  centuries,  then  the  first 
ages  of  the  Church  would  have  been  placed  in  a  disadvan- 
tageous position,  being  deprived  of  that  powerful  motive  to 
holiness  and  diligence  supplied  to  each  generation  of  the 
faithful  by  the  possibility  of  the  Lord's  return  in  their 
time.  It  is  not  that  He  desires  each  succeeding  generation 
to  believe  that  He  will  certainly  return  in  their  time,  for  He 
does  not  desire  our  faith  and  our  practice  to  be  founded  on 
an  error,  as,  in  that  case,  the  faith  and  practice  of  all  gener- 


296  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

ations  would  be.  But  it  is  a  necessary  element  of  the  doc- 
trine concerning  the  second  coming  of  Christ  that  it  should 
be  possible  at  any  time,  that  no.  generation  should  consider 
it  improbable  in  theirs."  (Notes  on  the  Parables,  pp. 
207,  208.) 

ITS    RELATION   TO    THE    UNITY  OF    THE    CHUKOH. 

First,  then,  it  illustrates  and  manifests  the  unity  of  the 
Church  with  a  distinctness  to  which  the  Post-Millennial 
theory  can  lay  no  claim.  It  is  not  our  province  to  make 
this  unity,  but  we  are  responsible  to  keep  and  to  exhibit  it 
amid  the  distractions  and  divisions  of  the  world.  But  of 
what  does  the  Church  on  earth  consist?  Not  simply  of  the 
number  in  any  one  generation  who  have  been  linked  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  to  the  risen  Christ,  but  of  the  entire  number 
of  believers  between  the  ascension  and  return  of  our  Lord; 
"  for  as  the  body  is  one  and  hath  many  members,  and  all  the 
members  of  that  one  body,  being  many,  are  one  body;  so 
also  is  [the]  Christ.  For  by  one  Spirit  are  we  all  baptized 
into  one  body,  whether  we  be  Jews  or  Gentiles,  whether  we 
be  bond  or  free;  and  have  been  all  made  to  drink  into  one 
Spirit."  (1  Cor.  12:  12,  13.)  Christ  is  exalted  to  be 
"  the  head  over  all  things  to  the  Church,  which  is  his  body, 
the  fulness  of  Him  that  tilleth  all  in  all "  (Eph.  1:  22,23); 
and  if  His  second  coming  is  the  hope  of  one  member  ot 
that  body,  it  is  the  hope  of  all  the  members.  It  did  not 
please  God  to  reveal  the  time  of  His  coming,  because 
lie  would  set  it  as  a  beautiful  bow  in  the  dark  cloud,  over- 
shadowing the  entire  interval  of  His  Son's  absence  from 
the  earth,  that  from  one  end  to  the  other  of  the  dispensa- 
tion all  faces  might  be  turned  up  in  faith  and  expectation. 
Hence  our  Saviour  could  bid  His  immediate  followers  watch 
for  Him,  and  Paul  could  say,  "  Then  we  which  are  alive  and 
remain  shall  be  caught  up  together  "  with  the  risen  dead, 


ITS  RELATION  TO  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE.          297 

and  all  of  the  Apostles  could  represent  the  Advent  as  nigh* 
for  its  nearness  to  one  believer  is  the  measure  of  its  near- 
ness to  the  entire  body,  viewed  in  its  unity.  Moreo'ver,  the 
conviction  of  its  nearness  necessarily  sinks  out  of  sight  the 
minor  differences  that  separate  Christians,  and  as  Saul  of 
Tarsus,  dazzled  by  the  brightness  that  flashed  upon  him  on 
the  road  to  Damascus,  declares,  "  I  could  not  see  for  the 
glory  of  that  light,"  so  we  can  not  see  the  motes  in  the  eyes 
of  our  brethren  while  gazing  upon  the  splendor  of  that  ap- 
proaching Advent.  The  Assembly  now  convened  furnishes 
striking  evidence  of  its  power  to  bring  believers  together 
on  a  common  ground,  to  bear  a  common  testimony  to  the 
blessedness  of  a  common  hope, 

RELATION  TO    THE    DIVINE    PURPOSE. 

Second — The  Pre-Millennial  coming  of  our  Lord  alone 
vindicates  the  Divine  honor  and  sovereignty.  Those  who 
reject  the  doctrine  constantly  affirm  that  it  disparages  the 
Gospel  by  representing  it  as  a  failure,  and  the  work  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  by  intimating  that  it  is  inadequate  to  the  con- 
version of  the  world.  But  a  moment's  reflection  is  sufficient 
to  show  that  it  exalts  the  Gospel  by  proving  that  it  accom- 
plishes all  it  was  designed  to  effect,  and  the  work  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  by  demonstrating  that  He  saves  all  He  intended 
to  save  during  the  present  dispensation.  It  is  not  a  ques- 
tion of  what  God  might  do,  but  of  what  He  proposes  to  do,  as 
revealed  in  His  word.  It  has  already  been  seen,  as  an- 
nounced by  the  Apostles,  that  God's  purpose  is  not  to  con- 
vert all  the  Gentiles  before  the  return  of  Christ,  but  to  take 
out  of  them  a  people  for  His  name;  and  if  one  verse  of  the 
Scripture  from  the  first  of  Genesis  to  the  last  of  Revelation 
can  be  found  to  assert  the  conversion  of  the  world  previous 
to  that  return,  pre-millennialists  will  agree  to  hold  their 
peace  forever  after.  On  the  other  hand,  the  post-millennial 


298  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

heresy  disparages  the  Gospel  and  the  work  of  the  Spirit  by 
forcing  the  conclusion  that  they  are  unable  to  reach  the  end 
they  were  ordained  to  attain.  If  it  was  God's  purpose  to 
bring  in  the  millennium  by  agencies  now  employed,  the 
most  careless  observer  can  see  that  it  has  been  signally  de- 
feated for  more  than  eighteen  hundred  years,  and,  judging 
the  future  by  the  past,  the  only  way  of  judging  apart  from 
prophetic  testimony,  there  is  little  prospect  of  achieving 
greater  success  in  the  time  to  come. 

Where  are  the  churches  planted  by  apostolic  hands  and 
watered  with  the  blood  of  martyrs?  They  have  long  since 
perished.  Where  are  the  countries  over  which  the  disciples 
of  Jesus,  in  the  first  and  second  centuries,  swept  as  an  army 
with  banners?  Under  the  black  pall  of  spiritual  death. 
Where  is  the  city  or  town  or  village  in  the  most  highly 
favored  portion  of  Christendom,  all  of  whose  inhabitants 
even  profess  to  believe  in  the  Son  of  God?  According  to 
Professor  Hitchcock's  statistics  in  his  Analysis  of  the  Holy 
Bible,  of  the  earth's  population,  there  are  195,000,000  Ro- 
man Catholics,  160,000,000  Mohammedans,  310,000,000 
Buddhists,  460,000,000  Pagans  and  other  heathen  religion- 
ists, and  97,139,000  Protestants  in  name.  Of  these  last, 
so  few  comparatively,  what  a  "little  flock"  follow  the  Good 
Shepherd;  what  an  overwhelming  majority  remain  utterly 
indifferent  to  His  voice,  or  fiercely  oppose  His  claims? 
Wars  and  rumors  of  wars,  famines  and  pestilences,  anxiety 
and  unrest  everywhere,  scientific  men  burning  incense  to 
their  own  vanity,  the  masses  upheaving  with  mad  efforts  to 
destroy  the  foundations  of  all  governments,  appalling  crimes 
and  shocking  villianies  loading  the  columns  of  our  daily 
journals,  infidelity  garrisoned  within  the  Church,  the  world 
blaspheming  in  its  rage  and  pain,  the  virgins  asleep — such 
is  the  picture  our  Lord  Himself  drew  of  the  course  of  the 
present  age,  "  till  He  come."  It  is  a  picture  true  to  the 


ITS  RELATION  TO  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE.          299 

facts  of  human  experience  and  observation,  and  it  is  submit- 
ted to  the  consideration  of  the  candid  inquirer,  whether  the 
hope  of  His  coming  to  quiet  this  confusion  and  to  quell  this 
turbulence  does  not  glorify  Him  more  than  the  boast  of  a 
religious  progress,  which  even  ungodly  men  can  see  is  a 
delusion  and  a  snare,  and  a  mirage  of  the  desert. 

RELATION    TO    THE    CURSE, 

Third — This  leads  us  to  glance  at  His  coming  in  relation 
to  the  promised  removal  of  the  curse  from  the  face  and 
bosom  of  suffering  creation.  "  By  one  man  sin  entered  into 
the  world,  and  death  by  sin;  and  so  death  passed  upon  all 
men,  for  that  all  have  sinned."  Rom.  5:  12.)  To  fallen 
Adam  it  was  said:  "  Cursed  is  the  ground  for  thy  sake;  in 
sorrow  shalt  thou  eat  of  it  all  the  days  of  thy  life;  thorns 
also  and  thistles  shall  it  bring  forth  to  thee."  (Gen. 
3:  17,  18.)  From  that  day  to  this  the  curse  has  smitten  the 
old  and  the  young,  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  king  and  the 
peasant,  the  philosopher  and  the  savage  alike,  and  diffused 
its  virulent  poison  through  the  whole  system  of  nature. 
The  winds  with  their  ominous  moan,  the  lower  animals  that 
once  crouched  lovingly  at  man's  feet,  the  dumb  earth 
reluctantly  yielding  her  riches  to  his  toil,  and  the  waves  with 
their  resistless  might,  seem  to  have  conspired  against  the 
destroyer  of  their  peace,  as  if  they  would  hurry  him  into 
the  grave.  But  the  word  of  God  that  liveth  and  abideth 
forever  tells  of  a  time,  and  that,  too,  while  nations  exist, 
when  "  there  shall  be  no  more  curse"  (Rev.  22 :  30) ;  when 
athe  wolf  also  shall  dwell  with  the  lamb,  and  the  leopard 
shall  lie  down  with  the  kid;  and  the  calf,  and  the  young 
lion,  and  the  fatling  together;  and  a  little  child  shall  lead 
them."  (Isaiah  11:  6.) 

It  is  obvious  that  the  spread  of  Christianity,  however 
widely  extended ;  personal  devotedness  to  the  Saviour,  how- 


300  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

ever  fervent;  the  suppression  ot  moral  evils,  however  thor- 
ough, can  never  arrest  disease  and  decay  and  death,  nor 
extract  malaria  from  the  soil,  nor  cause  the  fir  tree  to  grow 
instead  of  the  thorn,  and  the  myrtle  tree  in  place  of  the 
brier,  if,  however,  post-millennialists  insist  that  the  cow 
and  the  bear  feeding  together,  the  lion  eating  straw  like  an 
ox,  the  sucking  child  playing  unharmed  on  the  hole  of  the 
asp,  the  desert  rejoicing  and  blossoming  as  the  rose,  and  the 
thirsty  land  becoming  springs  of  water,  are  to  be  under- 
stood spiritually,  being  nothing  more  than  poetical  meta- 
phors to  show  the  transforming  power  of  the  Gospel,  they 
are  forced  to  conclude  that  the  curse  will  rush  onward  in 
its  desolating  career  through  the  entire  period  of  their 
anticipated  millennium.  Storms  will  continue  to  burst  in 
unsparing  fury  upon  earth  and  sea;  creation  will  continue 
to  groan  in  her  travailing  throes;  plague  and  pestilence  will 
continue  their  work  of  destruction;  sickness  and  pain  will 
continue  to  invade  every  household;  death  will  continue  to 
lay  his  ruffian  grasp  on  every  quivering  form,  hard  labor, 
corroding  care,  bitter  poverty,  darkened  homes,  blighted 
hopes, 

"The  heart-ache,  and  the  thousand  natural  shocks 
That  flesh  is  heir  to," 

will  continue  to  harass,  and  waste  and  kill,  as  the  thousand 
years  roll  on,  until  a  great  cry  would  ascend  to  God  to  bring 
such  a  millennium  to  a  speedy  end. 

But  He  is  better  than  men  think,  for  "  He  shall  send 
Jesus  Christ,  which  before  was  preached  unto  you:  whom 
the  heaven  must  receive  until  the  times  of  restitution  of  all 
things,  which  God  hath  spoken  by  the  mouth  of  all  the 
holy  prophets  since  the  world  began."  It  is  reserved  for 
the  Second  Man  in  person,  and  on  the  very  earth  that  held 
His  cross,  to  remove  the  curse  inflicted  by  the  first  man; 
and  it  is  strange  that  one  loyal  to  Him  can  wish  it  to  be 


ITS  RELATION  TO  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE.          301 

otherwise.  When  the  expectation  of  His  personal  coming 
dropped  out  of  the  faith  and  hope  of  the  Church  after 
three  hundred  years  of  blessed  testimony  and  successful 
service,  she  did  little  through  the  dark  ages  to  bear  His 
name  to  the  perishing  millions;  and  this  was  dishonoring 
to  Him  as  the  Prophet  and  Priest  of  His  people.  But 
since  the  era  of  modern  missions,  she  boasts  that  she  can 
and  will  repair  the  ruins  of  the  fall,  and  reign  on  the  earth, 
while  He  has  gone  into  a  far  country  to  receive  for  Himself 
a  Kingdom,  and  to  return;  and  this  is  no  less  dishonoring 
to  Him  as  the  Anointed  King  of  the  nations.  Some,  at 
least,  thank  God,  do  not  desire  her  coronation  until  His 
own  royal  hand  shall  seat  her  beside  Him  on  the  throne, 
for  they  are  singing  day  by  day,  with  full  intelligence  of  its 
meaning, 

"  Bring  forth  the  royal  diadem. 
And  crown  HIM  Lord  of  all!" 

RELATION   TO    JUSTIFICATION. 

Fourth — His  pre-millennial  coming  sustains  a  relation 
to  the  doctrine  of  Justification  equally  direct  and  impor- 
tant. Owing  to  the  prevalence  of  the  unscriptural  theory 
that  by  the  combined  efforts  of  civilization  and  religion  the 
world  grows  better  as  it  grows  older,  not  only  is  the  sover- 
eignty of  God  in  the  bestowal  of  His  grace  banished  from 
the  emasculated  theology  of  the  day,  but  men  are  thrown 
upon  their  own  resources  for  salvation.  According  to  the 
preaching  too  frequently  heard,  even  where  there  is  no  bold 
denial  of  the  plain  statements  of  Scripture  concerning  the 
future  punishment  of  the  wicked,  conversion  is  regarded  as 
a  long  and  laborious  process,  a  result  of  culture  under  self- 
imposed  restraints,  or  a  conformity  to  ecclesiastical  rules 
and  regulations,  with  a  vague  and  indefinite  hope  that  all 
this  may  purchase  a  title  to  heaven.  According  to  the 


302  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

Gospel,  "He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  HATH  everlasting 
life."  (John  3:  3.)  "  By  Him  all  that  believe  ARE  justi- 
fied from  all  things."  (Acts  13:  39.)  "  To  him  that  work- 
eth  not,  but  believed  on  Him  that  justifieth  the  ungodly, 
his  faith  is  counteth  for  righteousness/'  (Romans  4:5,) 
and  "Being  justified  by  faith  we  HAVE  peace  with  God 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  (Romans  5:1.)  All  is 
simple,  clear  and  pressing,  &8  if  there  were  urgent  need  of 
haste  in  delivering  the  message,  and  of  haste  no  less  urgent 
on  the  part  of  those  who  listen  to  receive  it,  and  straight- 
way rejoice. 

Those  who  spoke  knew  that  Christ  might  come  while 
they  were  speaking,  and  they  would  have  those  who  heard 
to  know  it  likewise,  that  they  might  lay  hold  of  eternal 
life  without  a  moment's  delay.  They  must  be  like  the 
dying  thief,  who  had  no  time  to  make  himself  better,  but 
was  shut  up  to  the  necessity  of  believing  the  promise  of 
Jesus;  they  must  be  like  multitudes  of  Christians  on  a 
dying  bed,  of  whom  it  is  said  they  received  dying  grace, 
because  at  last  they  are  forced  to  turn  from  the  trying  to 
trusting,  when  it  ought  to  have  been  living  grace  all  along; 
they  must  have  been  like  those  of  whom  the  Master  spoke 
in  view  of  His  coming.  "He  which  shall  be  upon  the 
housetop,  and  his  stuff  in  the  house,  let  him  not  come 
down  to  take  it  away;  and  he  that  is  in  the  field,  let  him 
likewise  not  return  back."  (Luke  17:  31.)  No  one  can 
really  look  for  His  Advent  as  possible  every  day,  as  not 
improbable  any  day,  without  being  cast  upon  His  finished 
work  alone  for  justification,  and  upon  His  faithful  word 
alone  for  assurance.  Nor  will  it  answer  to  substitute  death 
for  His  personal  coming,  because  death  is  not  mentioned  in 
Scripture  as  that  which  is  set  before  believers,  and  because 
it  is  notoriously  the  most  powerless  and  the  most  fruitless 
argument  that  can  be  addressed  to  men.  It  is  something 


ITS  RELATION  TO  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE.          303 

• 

far  more  impressive  than  a  solitary  death  that  demands 
immediate  attention,  and  that  sends  out  the  stirring  words, 
"Come;  for  all  things  are  NOW  ready  (Luke  14:  17);  "Be- 
hold NOW  is  the  accepted  time;  behold,  NOW  is  the  day  of 
salvation  "  (2  Cor.  6:  2);  "There  is  therefore  NOW  no  con- 
demnation to  them  which  are  in  Christ  Jesus "  (Rom. 
8:1);  "NOW,  in  Christ  Jesus,  ye  who  sometimes  were  far 
off,  are  made  nigh  by  the  blood  of  Christ"  (Eph.  2:  13;) 
"Beloved,  NOW  are  we  the  Sons  of  God;  and  it  doth  not 
yet  appear  what  we  shall  be;  but  we  know  that,  when  He 
shall  appear,  we  shall  be  like  Him;  for  we  shall  see  Him  as 
He  is"  (1  John  3:  2). 

RELATION    TO    SANOTIFICATION. 

Fifth — His  second  coming  has  a  bearing,  that  can  be 
scarcely  noticed,  upon  the  doctrine  of  Sanctification,  not 
only  in  its  power,  when  heartily  received,  to  separate  us  from 
a  doomed  world,  to  make  us  watchful  over  our  own  hearts, 
and  to  consecrate  us  with  sustained  energy  and  enthusiasm 
to  Christ,  but  as  indicating  the  point  at  which  sanctification 
is  completed.  There  is  a  sense  in  which  believers  are  already 
sanctified,  for  we  read,  "  To  them  that  ARE  sanctified  in 
Christ  Jesus"  (1  Cor.  1:2);  "Who  of  God  is  made  unto 
us  wisdom,  and  righteouness,  and  sanctification,  and  redemp- 
tion," (1  Cor.  1:  31);  "But  ye  are  washed,  but  ye  ARE 
sanctified,  but  ye  are  justified  in  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  and  by  the  spirit  of  our  Lord"  (1  Cor.  7:  11);  "By 
the  which  will  we  ARE  sanctified,  through  the  offering  of  the 
body  of  Jesus  Christ  once  for  all  "  (Heb.  10:  10);  "  For  by 
one  offering  he  hath  perfected  forever  them  that  ARE  sancti- 
fied "  (Heb.  10:  14).  But  using  the  term  at  present  in  its 
commonly  accepted  sense,  as  implying  progressive  holiness, 
or  the  increasing  ascendency  of  the  new  man  over  the  old 
man,  of  the  spirit  over  the  flesh,  what  thoughts  cluster 


304  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

about  it  in  the  light  of  our  Lord's  second  Advent!  Post- 
millennialists  invariably  make  it  end  at  death,  and  thus 
turn  our  attention  to  that  which  is  the  curse,  the  conse- 
quence and  the  conquest  of  sin,  to  the  clammy  sweat,  the 
glazing  eye,  the  labored  breathing,  the  coffin,  the  grave,  the 
worm  and  corruption,  as  the  goal  to  which  the  Holy  Spirit's 
discipline  and  teachings  conduct  the  believer.  It  is  need- 
less to  say  that  no  such  view  is  presented  in -Scripture. 
There,  a  far  higher  and  nobler  object  is  set  before  us :  "  To 
the  end  He  may  stablish  your  hearts  unblameable  in  holi- 
ness before  God,  even  our  Father,  at  the  coming  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  with  all  His  saints"  (1  Thess.  3:  13); 
uAnd  the  very  God  of  peace  sanctify  you  wholly;  and  I 
pray  God  your  whole  spirit  and  soul  and  body  be  preserved 
blameless  unto  the  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ "  ( 1 
Thess.  5:  23);  "And  now,  little  children,  abide  in  Him;  that 
when  he  shall  appear,  we  may  have  confidence  and  not  be 
ashamed  before  Him  at  His  coining"  (1  John  2:  28).  This, 
and  not  death,  is  the  appropriate  and  glorious  termination 
of  our  growth  in  grace,  and  in  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord 
and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ;  and  that  coming  accounts  for  the 
two-fold  form  in  which  sanctification,  and  other  doctrines  of 
God's  word,  are  revealed.  We  are  sanctified  now  through 
the  cleansing  blood,  should  He  come  to-day ;  should  He  be 
pleased  to  tarry  yet  a  little  longer  we  will  have  larger  and 
still  larger  experiences  of  His  sustaining  and  sanctifying 
grace  amid  trials  and  conflicts  here  below. 

RELATION   TO   INSPIRATION. 

Sixth — the  relation  of  the  Second  Coming  to  the  inspi- 
ration of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  must  not  be  entirely  over- 
looked, even  in  so  imperfect  an  outline  of  the  connection  in 
which  the  great  truth  stands  in  the  New  Testament.  Those 
who  witness  for  this  truth  have  fought  the  battle  with  its 


ITS  RELATION  TO  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE.          305 

enemies  on  the  ground  of  ecclesiastical  history,  and  on  the 
ground  of  Biblical  exegesis,  and  have  triumphantly  carried 
both  points,  proving  that  the  early  disciples  looked  for  the 
Advent  of  Christ,  and  that  this  Advent  was  nothing  but 
His  literal  and  personal  return  to  the  earth.  Forced  to 
abandon  their  former  position,  Post-Millennial  ministers 
and  writers  are  now  taking  a  new  stand,  far  more  dangerous 
to  the  souls  of  men,  and  far  more  dishonoring  to  the  Lord. 
They  are  boldly  asserting  that  holy  men  of  old,  who  spake 
as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  were  mistaken 
when  they  taught  the  people  to  look  for  His  coming.  Thus 
in  a  recent  and  popular  work  it  is  said:  "  This  expectation 
is  expressed  by  all  the  Apostles  in  terms  which  fairly  admit 
of  no  other  interpretation.  It  is  found  in  Paul  (Horn.  13: 
11,  12;  1  Cor.  7:  29-31;  10:  11;  Phil.  4:  5;  1  Tirn.  6:  14). 
*  The  same  expectation  is  expressed  in  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews  (10:  25,  37);  in  the  Epistle  of  James  (5: 
3,  8);  in  the  Epistles  of  Peter '(1  Peter  4:  7;  2  Peter  3:3); 
in  the  First  Epistle  of  John  (2:  18);  and  in  the  Apocalypse 
(1:  1;  2:  11;  22:  7,  22,  20).  To  put  any  other  construction 
on  these  passages,  as  if  the  Parousia  to  which  they  refer  was 
anything  else  than  the  Second  Advent  of  the  Lord  to 
Judgment,  would  introduce  a  dangerous  license  in  interpre- 
tation, and  one  which  might  be  employed  to  subvert  the 
principal  doctrines  of  the  Christian  system.  Under  the 
general  expectations  of  the  Apostles,  mistaken  though  it 
might  prove  to  be  in  the  one  particular  of  time,  there  lay  a 
fundamental  truth.  *  *  *  It  is  not  strange  that  this 
expectation,  which  appears  so  distinctly  arid  frequently  in 
the  Epistles,  should  tinge  the  phraseology  in  which  the 
Evangelists  record  the  prophetic  utterances  of  Jesus.  That 
a  verbal  exactitude  belongs  always  to  these  reports  of  the 
Saviour's  teachings  is  claimed  by  no  intelligent  person  who 
has  compared  the  Gospels  with  one  another.  Jesus  taught 
20 


SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


in  the  Aramaic  dialect;  His  teaching  was  transmitted  orally^ 
for  a  time,  before  it  was  embodied  in  a  written  form;  His 
sayings  are  often  condensed  by  the  Evangelists,  and  given 
in  an  order  not  corresponding  precisely  to  that  in  which 
they  were  uttered."  (The  Beginning  of  Christianity,  pp. 
366-9.)  Is  it  possible  that  those  who  oppose  the  truth  of 
our  Lord's  pre-millennial  coming  are  pushed  to  an  extreme 
BO  frightful  as  this?*  Was  Jesus  incorrectly  reported?  But 
where  meanwhile  was  the  Holy  Ghost? 

It  is  astonishing  that  the  distinguished  author'  says  the 
Apostles  were  mistaken  in  the  one  particular  of  time,  when 
in  the  very  next  paragraph,  referring  to  the  teachings  of 
Christ,  it  is  stated,  "  that  the  time  of  the  Second  Advent 
and  consummation  of  the  kingdom,  he  declares  to  be  not  a 
subject  of  revelation."  How  could  they  be  mistaken  in  that 
which  was  not  a  subject  of  revelation?  They  were  not 
taught  that  He  would,  or  would  not,  come  at  any  fixed  time, 
but  they  were  taught  to  look  for  Him  continually,  and, 
should  they  die  before  His  Advent,  to  hand  down  their 
believing  expectation  of  it  as  the  most  precious  legacy  they 
could  bequeath  their  successors,  that  so  His  coming  might 
lie  the  one  radiant  star  of  hope  in  the  firmament  of  revealed 
truth  for  the  entire  Church.  But  if  it  "  would  introduce  a 
dangerous  license  in  interpretation,  and  one  which  might  be 
employed  to  subvert  the  principal  doctrines  of  the  Christian 
system,"  to  refer  the  numerous  statements  of  Scripture  on 
this  subject  to  anything  else  than  the  Second  Advent  of 
the  Lord,  it  is  a  much  more  dangerous  license  to  say  that 
the  Apostles  were  mistaken  in  their  teachings.  If  hey 
were  mistaken  on  this  point,  they  may  have  been  mistaken 
on  other  points,  and  infidelity  is  the  logical  and  inevitable 
result  of  affirming  either  the  one  or  the  other.  It  is 
becoming  quite  the  fashion  to  treat  lightly  and  irreverently 

*  So  Marteiisen,  Christian  Dogmatics,  p.  468. 


ITS  DELATION  TO  CHRISTIAN  DOGTRINE.          307 

the  authority  of  the  Bible,  whenever  it  runs  counter  to 
some  popular  theory,  or  scientific  assertion,  or  humanitarian 
scheme;  and  to  one  who  knows  that  the  very  words  of 
Scripture  were  given  by  the  Holy  Ghost  the  tendency  of  the 
pulpit  in  this  direction  is  exceedingly  alarming.  It  is  sad 
to  see  the  author  just  quoted  fostering  such  a  tendency  by 
declaring  that  the  Apostles  were  mistaken  in  their  expec- 
tation, though  he  admits  that  it  was  "an  expectation  that 
was  not  extinguished  by  the  disappointment  of  it  in  the 
first  age  of  Christianity,  but  is  expressed  in  most  of  the 
Fathers  in  the  second  century;  for  Origen,  who  died  A.  D. 
254,  seems  to  have  been  the  first  to  suggest  that  the  Gospel, 
by  its  new  moral  power,  through  the  Spirit,  would  overcome 
heathenism  in  the  Koman  Empire."  (9.  369.) 

RELATION   TO    THE    RESURRECTION. 

Seventh — The  relation  of  our  Lord's  second  coming  to  the 
doctrine  of  the  resurrection  is  too' well  known  to  require  ex- 
tended remark,  even  if  time  permitted.  The  two  are  inti- 
mately and  indissolubly  associated  in  the  Scriptures,  though 
the  fatal  habit  of  spiritualizing  away  the  one  has,  to  a  fear- 
ful extent,  led  to  the  denial  of  the  literality  of  the  other. 
Nor  is  this  result  surprising,  painful  as  it  is  to  see  the 
abandonment  of  a  doctrine  so  prominent  in  the  word  of 
God,  and  so  peculiar  to  Christian  faith.  If  the  frequent 
allusions  to  the  Advent  of  Christ,  running  all  through  the 
New  Testament,  can  be  perverted  to  mean  a  thousand  dif- 
ferent things,  it  is  not  strange  that  those  who  are  perplexed 
by  scientific  arguments  against  the  reality  of  the  resurrec- 
tion should  seek  to  explain  it  as  referring  only  to  some 
spiritual  change  at  death.  But  one  is  as  literal  as  the  other, 
and  both  stand  or  fall  together:  "Christ  the  first  fruits; 
afterward,  they  that  are  Christ's,  at  his  coming."  (1  Cor. 
15:  23.)  "The  Lord  himself  shall  descend  from  heaven 


308  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

with  a  shout,  with  the  voice  of  the  archangel,  and  with  the 
trump  of  God;  and  the  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise  first;  then 
we  which  are  alive  and  remain  shall  be  caught  up  together 
with  them  in  clouds,  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air;  and  so 
shall  we  ever  be  with  the  Lord."  (1  Thess.  4:  16,  17.) 
Hence  in  His  sublime  announcement  to  Martha,  "  I  am  the 
Resurrection  and  the  Life."  He  includes  the  whole  dispen- 
sation within  the  sweep  of  the  statement  that  follows:  "  He 
that  believeth  in  me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he 
live;"  then  reaching  on  to  the  time  of  His  advent,  He 
adds:  "  and  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  in  me  shall  never 
die."  (John  11:  25,  26.) 

Hence,  too,  there  is  nothing,  and  in  the  very  nature  of 
the  scheme  of  redemption  there  can  be  nothing,  between 
believers  and  that  promised  Advent,  with  its  attendant 
resurrection  of  the  righteous  dead.  The  first  step  is  to  be 
in  Christ,  of  whom  it  is  said,  "Ye  are  complete  in  Him  " 
(Col.  2:  10);  the  next  step  is  to  be  with  Christ  in  the  glory; 
for  "  whom  he  justified,  them  he  also  glorified."  (Rom.  8: 
30.)  The  first  step  is  to  receive  Christ  by  faith,  the  next 
step  is  to  wait  for  Christ  from  heaven.  There  is  no  need  of 
delay,  either  to  secure  additional  title  to  the  incorruptible 
inheritance,  or  to  acquire  fitness  for  its  possession,  since 
that  cry  which  shook  earth  and  hell  was  heard  ascending 
from  the  dying  Saviour,  "It  is  finished."  (John  19:  30.) 
The  atoning  work  is  done;  the  debt  is  paid;  the  law  is  satis- 
fied; the  vindicated  justice  of  God  demands  no  more;  "  and 
the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  His  Son  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin." 
(1  John  IT.)  Judgments  are  in  store  for  Israel  and  for 
the  world;  but  there  is  no  judgment  for  those  who  are 
already  in  a  risen  and  ascended  Christ. 

"  God,  who  is  rich  in  mercy,  for  His  great  love  wherewith 
He  loved  us,  even  when  we  were  dead  in  sins  HATH  quick- 
ened us  together  with  Christ  (by  grace  ye  are  [vyere]  saved); 


ITS  RELATION  TO  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE.          309 

and  HATH  raised  us  up  together,  and  made  us  sit  together 
in  heavenly  places  in  Christ  Jesus"  (Eph.  2:4-6).  "  Giving 
thanks  unto  the  Father,  which  HATH  made  us  meet  to  be 
partakers  of  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light;  who 
HATH  delivered  us  from  the  power  of  darkness,  and  HATH 
translated  us  into  the  Kingdom  of  His  dear  Son;  in  whom 
we  have  redemption  through  His  blood"  (Col.  1:  12-14). 
"  He  that  heareth  my  word,  and  believeth  on  Him  that  sent 
me  HATH  everlasting  life,  and  shall  not  come  into  condem- 
nation [judgment]  but  is  passed  from  death  unto  life  "  (John 
5:  24).  "He  that  believeth  on  Him  is  not  condemned,"  or 
judged  (John  3:  18).  "  Herein  is  love  with  us  made  per- 
fect, that  we  may  have  boldness  in  the  day  of  judgment, 
because  as  He  is,  so  are  we  in  this  world"  (1  John  4:  17). 

It  was  to  be  expected,  therefore,  that  even  the  first  pagan 
converts  having  turned  to  God  from  idols,  to  serve  the  Liv- 
ing and  True  God,  would  be  taught  "  to  wait  for  his  Son 
from  heaven,  whom  he  raised  from  the  dead,  even  Jesus, 
which  delivered  us  from  the  wrath  to  come"  (1  Thess.  1: 
10).  There  was  nothing  else,  there  could  have  been  noth- 
ing else,  set  before  them  as  the  hope  of  the  Gospel;  for,  if 
the  grave  intervened,  it  was  only  in  the  touching  words  of 
the  inscription  on  Dean  Alford's  tomb,  "The  inn  of  a  trav- 
eler on  his  way  to  the  New  Jerusalem." 

Should  the  objection  be  raised  that  they  waited  in  vain, 
and  that  their  hope  met  with  a  cruel  disappointment,  the 
reply  is,  their  bodies  are  waiting  still  in  the  assurance  of  a 
glorious  resurrection  in  His  coming.  They  laid  their  dead 
to  rest,  comforted  with  the  thought  that  before  they  left 
the  place  of  burial  the  Lord  Himself  might  descend  from 
Heaven  with  a  kingly  and  conquering  shout  to  His  own 
sleeping  and  living  saints  to  awaken  the  former  and  to 
change  the  latter,  "  in  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an 
eye;"  for  had  He  not  in  the  last  chapter  of  the  Bible  three 


310  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

times  repeated  the  promise,  "I  come  quickly?  "  There  is  no 
revolution  of  the  earth  upon  its  axis  in  that  bright  world  of 
which  it  is  said,  "there  shall  be  no  night  there"  (Rev.  21: 
25);  and  ages  fly  swiftly  where  all  is  glory  and  gladness. 
When  the  voice  sounds  from  the  celestial  city,  "  Surely,  I 
come  quickly, "it  is  counting  time  as  it  is  reckoned  by  Him 
with  whom  a  thousand  years  are  as  one  day  (2  Peter  3:  8), 
and,  according  to  the  chronology  of  heaven,  not  two  days 
have  yet  passed  since  the  risen  Jesus,  with  uplifted  hands 
in  the  act  of  priestly  blessing,  ascended  from  the  Mount  of 
Olives.  The  evident  purpose  of  the  constant  representa- 
tions in  the  New  Testament  of  the  nearness  of  His  advent 
is  to  keep  His  Church  in  the  attitude  of  eager  expectation 
and  unceasing  watchfulness,  like  Rebekah  under  the  wise 
guidance  of  Eliezar,  who  was  a  type  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Charmed  with  the  story  and  with  the  proof  he  gave  of  the 
bridegroom's  love  and  wealth,  she  left  her  father  and  mother, 
and  brother  and  childhood's  home  for  a  distant  land. 
But  no  account  is  placed  on  record  of  the  long  journey. 
"The  servant  took  Rebekah  and  went  his  way;"  and  the 
very  next  statement  is  "  and  Isaac  came  "  (Gen.  24:  61,  62). 
Brethren  in  the  Lord,  we  are  not  prophets,  we  are  only 
humble  students  of  the  prophetic  word;  and,  while  it  is  not 
for  us  "to  know  the  times  or  the  seasons  which  the  Father 
hath  put  in  His  power  "  (Acts  1:  7),  it  certainly  becomes 
us,  after  the  lapse  of  more  than  eighteen  hundred  years,  to 
shout  with  increased  earnestness  and  urgency  the  midnight 
cry,  "  Behold,  the  bridegroom  cometh;  go  ye  out  to  meet 
him."  "This  gospel  of  the  Kingdom  shall  be  preached  in 
all  the  world  for  a  witness  to  all  nations;  and  then  shall  the 
end  come."  (Matt.  24:  14.)  When  the  times  of  the  Gen- 
tiles shall  have  been  fulfilled  "  there  shall  be  upon  the  earth 
distress  of  nations,  with  perplexity;  the  sea  and  the  waves 
roaring;  men's  hearts  failing  them  for  fear,  and  for  looking 


ITS  RELATION  TO  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE.          311 

• 
-after  those  things  which  are  coming  on  the  earth;  for  the 

powers  of  heaven  shall  be  shaken.  And  then  shall  they  see 
the  Son  of  Man  coming  in  a  cloud  with  power  and  great 
glory.  And  when  these  things  begin  to  come  to  pass,  then, 
look  up,  and  lift  up  your  heads;  for  your  redemption  draw- 
eth  nigh."  (Luke  21:  25-28.)  The  long  and  perilous  jour- 
ney is  almost  finished;  the  conflict  of  centuries  will  soon 
close  in  songs  of  victory.  Xenophon  relates  that  the  Greeks, 
after  the  death  of  Cyrus,  were  exposed  to  innumerable  hard- 
ships in  their  retreat  through  hostile  countries.  They  were 
forced  to  face  the  bitter  blasts  of  Winter,  and  marched 
through  snows,  and  were  scorched  by  the  burning  sun,  and 
crossed  pestilential  marshes,  and  scaled  steep  mountains, 
and  stormed  forts  and  citadels,  and  were  harrassed  at  every 
step  by  their  wary  and  relentless  foes.  At  last  the  van- 
guard ascended  a  mountain  and  gave  a  great  shout,  which, 
when  Xenophon,  and  those  in  the  rear,  heard,  they  concluded 
that  some  other  enemies  attacked  them  in  front.  *  *  * 
The  noise  still  increasing  as  they  came  nearer,  and  the  men, 
as  fast  as  they  came  up,  running  to  those  who  still  contin- 
ued shouting,  their  cries  swelled  with  their  numbers  so  that 
Xenophon,  thinking  that  something  more  than  ordinary  had 
happened,  mounted  on  horseback,  and  taking  with  him 
Lycius  and  his  horse,  rode  up  to  their  assistance,  and  pres- 
ently they  heard  all  the  soldiers  calling  out,  "Sea!  Sea!" 
and  cheering  one  another.  At  this  they  all  set  a  running, 
the  rear-guard  as  well  as  the  rest,  and  the  beasts  of  burden 
and  horses  were  driven  forward.  When  they  were  all  come 
up  to  the  top  of  the  mountain  they  embraced  one  another, 
and  also  their  generals  and  captains,  with  tears  in  their 
eyes."  (Expedition  of  Cyrus,  p.  250.) 

Courage,  fellow-soldiers,  for  we  shall  soon  behold  the  sea, 
with  its  placid  bosom  kept  in  millennial  repose  by  the 
divine  "Peace,  be  still"  of  Jesus;  and  upon  its  "shining 


312  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

shore"  we  shall  ever  be  with  the  Lord.  "We  must  expect 
reproach  and  ridicule,  for  no  great  truth  of  God's  word  that 
had  sunk  into  obscurity  has  ever  been  restored  to  its  appro- 
priate prominence  except  at  the  cost  of  suffering  and  strug- 
gling to  its  witnesses.  We  must  expect  that  some  who 
advance  with  us  to  the  battle,  discouraged  by  difficulties 
and  intimidated  by  dangers,  will  throw  away  their  arms,  or 
desert  to  the  enemy.  But  supported  as  we  are  by  the 
authority  and  example  of  the  Captain  of  our  Salvation,  and 
of  all  His  inspired  apostles,  by  the  faith  of  the  Church  for 
three  hundred  years,  by  the  teaching  of  men  eminent  for 
their  piety  and  learning  through  the  centuries  that  are  past, 
by  the  felt  power  of  "looking  for  that  blessel  hope"  to 
raise  our  thoughts  above  the  world,  let  us  press  on,  cheered 
by  the  assurance  that,  if  we  gain  not  the  applause  of  men, 
we  receive  the  approval  of  the  Master,  arid  at  aour  gather- 
ing together  unto  Him"  (2  Thess.  2:  1),  we  shall  hear  Him 
say,  "Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant."  (Matt. 
35:  22.)  "The  night  is  far  spent,  the  day  is  at  hand" 
(Rom.  13:  12).  It  is  not  for  us  who  are  gazing  through  the 
gloom  for  the  appearing  of  the  Morning  Star  to  take  counsel 
of  our  fears,  or  to  be  governed  by  a  time-serving  policy  in 
our  testimony,  "For  yet  a  little  while,  and  He  that  shall 
come  will  come,  and  will  not  tarry."  (Heb.  10:  37.) 

"Brother,  up  to  the  breach, 
For  Christ's  coming  and  truth, 
Let  us  act  as  we  teach, 

With  the  wisdom  of  age,  and  the  vigor  of  youth, 
Heed  not  their  cannon  balls; 
Ask  not  who  stands  or  falls ; 
Graspxthe  sword 
Of  the  Lord, 
And — forward !" 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.   313 


HISTORY     OF    THE     PRE-MILLEJST  JSTI AL 
DOCTRINE. 

BY  THE   REV.  NATHANIEL  WEST,  D.D.,  PRESBYTERIAN,  CINCINNATI,  OHIO. 

CHRISTIAN  Chiliasm,  or  Pre-Millennarianism,  is  the  doc- 
trine of  the  personal  reign  of  Christ,  on  earth,  1,000  years 
after  the  Beast,  False  Prophet,  and  Apostate  Christendom 
have  been  judged  and  perished  in  a  common  doom.  (Rev. 
5: 10;  11:15;  19:20,  21;  20:1-6.)  It  is  the  doctine  of  a 
visible  and  external  sovereignty  of  Christ,  upon  earth,  as 
the  outcome  of  history,  the  redeemed  Church  of  all  ages 
rejoicing  in  the  fullness  of  a  resurrection-life  in  the  actual 
presence  of  Him  who  is  the  u  Only  Potentate  "  and  "  Prince 
of  the  Kings  of  the  Earth  " — a  kingdom  of  outward  glory, 
established  upon  the  ruin  of  the  polities  of  all  nations,  wide 
as  the  canopy  of  heaven.  It  is  a  kingdom  spiritual,  though 
of  outward  form,  in  which  carnal  beatitudes  have  no  place, 
the  beggarly  elements  of  Judaism  no  honor;  a  kingdom 
terrestrial  yet  celestial,  not  of  this  world  but  of  heaven; 
one  in  which  Jew  and  Gentile,  incorporated  together,  share 
the  victory,  blessedness,  holiness,  dominion,  and  communion 
of  their  Lord.  Redeemed  humanity  has  another  goal  than 
that  of  common  zoology,  and  that  goal  is  the  kingdom  of 
the  resurrection.  As  Dorner  has  beautifully  said,  "  Com- 
plete victor  Christianity  never  can  be,  until  Xature  has 
become  an  organ  of  its  service,  a  willing  instrument  of  the 
perfect  man,  that  is  of  the  righteous  who  are  raised  from 
the  dead."  (Person  of  Christ  I.  412.)  "  Man  and  the 
creature,"  says  Ellicott,  "  bound  together  in  one  common 
feeling  of  longing  and  expectancy,  are  awaiting  that 
redemption  of  the  body  which  shall  be  the  immediate 


314  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST 

precursor  of  the  restitution  of  the  world,  and  the  consum- 
mation of  all  things  in  Christ."  (Destiny  of  the  Earth, 
p.  18.)  So  Lange.  "  The  expectation  of  the  future  trans- 
formation of  the  earth  into  a  heavenly  establishment,  of  the 
conjunction  of  the  spiritual  kingdom  in  the  other  world 
with  that  in  this,  nay,  of  the  reuniting  of  that  world  itseli 
and  this,  is  to  many  a  mere  fancy,  but  to  every  earnest 
Christian  a  great  hope,  an  assurance  of  faith,  a  certain  pre- 
diction." (Bremen  Lectures,  p.  251.)  Even  Dr.  Fairbairn 
avers  the  same  belief.  "  The  internal  links  itself  with  the 
external,  .  .  .  the  bodies  of  the  saints  shall  be  trans- 
formed, and  the  whole  material  creation  shall  become  a  fit 
habitation  for  redeemed  and  glorified  saints."  (Hermeneu- 
tics,  p.  367.)  Lechler  is  as  clearly  right  when  saying,  "  To 
an  earthly  kingdom  of  glory,  a  mass  of  utterances  refer  in 
the  letters  of  the  Apostle  (Paul),  if  we  have  an  open  eye 
for  them,  and  this  is,  at  the  same  time,  that  eschatological 
point  in  which  all  his  letters  harmonize."  (Apostt,  und 
Nachap.  Zeit.  p.  141.)  Tholuck  was  only  right  when  say- 
ing, "  The  idea  that  the  perfected  Kingdom  of  Christ  is  to 
be  transferred  to  heaven,  is  properly  a  modern  notion. 
According  to  Paul,  and  the  Revelation  of  John,  the  King- 
dom of  God  is  to  be  placed  upon  the  earth,  in  so  far  as  this 
itself  has  part  in  the  universal  transformation."  (Quoted 
by  Lee.  Eschatology,  p.  247.)  Pre-millennialism,  there- 
fore, looks  upon  the  old  genesis  as  an  apocalypse  of  the 
past  given  to  Moses,  the  new  genesis  as  an  apocalypse  of 
the  future  given  to  John,  crowned  with  redemption.  Its 
eye  sweeps  the  whole  field  of  development  from  Paradise 
lost  to  Paradise  restored.  The  relation  of  the  dispensation 
of  Promise  to  that  of  the  Law  is  the  analogue  of  the  rela- 
tion of  the  Present  dispensation  to  that  of  the  Millennium, 
after  which  is  the  consummation  and  Eternal  Glory,  when 
Christ  shall  have  surrendered  the  Kingdom  to  the  Father, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.  315 

that  God  may  be  All  in  all."  Thus  does  pre-millennialism 
become  a  protest  against  the  doctrine  of  the  unbroken 
evolution  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  to  absolute  perfection  on 
earth,  apart  from  the  visible  and  miraculous  intervention 
of  Christ.  And  equally  is  it  a  protest  against  that  vapid 
idealism  which  volatilizes  the  perfect  kingdom  into  a  spir- 
itual abstraction,  apart  from  the  regenesis  of  the  earth.  It 
asserts  that  the  literal  is  always  the  last  and  highest  fulfill- 
ment of  prophecy.  It  adopts  the  deep  truth,  expressed  by 
Oetinger,  that  glorified  "  corporeity  is  the  end  of  the  ways 
of  God,"  working  from  within  outward,  from  the  spirit  to 
the  body  of  the  believer,  and  from  both  to  the  renovation 
of  the  planet.  The  millennium  is  the  transition-stage  ia 
this  process  of  "the  Regeneration,"  succeeded  by  the 
everlasting  state. 

The  evolution  and  history  of  the  doctrine  run  parallel 
with  the  development  and  progress  of  all  revelation.  It 
does  not  rest  upon  an  isolated  passage  in  the  Apocalypse, 
as  many  suppose,  but  upon  the  whole  covenant  of  God  in 
Christ  for  the  redemption  of  man  and  earth  from  sin  and 
its  curse,  and  is  the  central  point  of  eschatology.  "Were 
but  one  verse  all  that  announced  its  existence,  it  would 
still  be  equally  valid  as  that  other  solitary  verse,  in  all  the 
Bible,  which  announces  the  surrender  of  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  Kingdom,  by  Christ,  to  the  Father,  that  God  may  be 
All  in  all  (1  Cor.  15:24).  But  six  consecutive  times,  in 
six  consecutive  verses,  John  emphasizes  the  Kingdom  as  the 
reign  of  1,000  years,  to  make  it  sure  to  our  understanding. 
Above  even  this  six-fold  repetition,  it  was,  in  connection 
with  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  a  chief  part  in  the  burden  of 
"  all  that  God  had  spoken  by  the  mouth  of  all  His  holy 
prophets  since  the  world  began."  (Acts  3:21.)  The  cir- 
cumstance that  some,  who  in  ancient,  as  in  modern,  times, 
have  abused  the  doctrine  to  a  carnal  sense,  were  called 


316  SECOND  OOMINO  OF  CHRIST. 

"  Chiliasts"  or  "  Millennarians,"  no  matter  how  perverse 
their  doctrine  might  be,  vacates  not  the  fact  that  a  true 
Christian  Chiliasm  was  the  orthodox  faith  of  the  primitive 
church  in  its  purest  days.  "  Christian  Chiliasm  showed  no 
favor  to  the  fleshly  Israel,  nor  even  to  its  Holy  City." 
(Robertson,  Chh.  Hist.  I.,  p.  116.)  "Christian  Chiliasm," 
says  Dorner, "  so  far  from  being  derivable  from,  may  in  part 
be  more  justly  regarded  as  a  polemic  against,  Judaism,  on 
the  part  of  Christianity.  This  is,  in  particular,  its  charac- 
ter, where  it  has  apparently  borrowed  most  features  from 
Judaism."  (Person  of  Christ,  I.,  408.)  It  was  no  device 
of  "  later  Jews  "  sighing  for  temporal  deliverance  from  a 
Syrian  or  Roman  yoke.  They  never  admitted  a  "  Second 
Advent "  in  any  case.  They  knew  no  millennium  save  a 
kingdom  of  Solomonic  and  carnal  splendor,  under  a  tem- 
poral prince,  with  the  Levitical  cultus  revived.  Their 
motto  was  "  Moses  forever."  They  believed  in  a  resurrec- 
tion of  "  gross  and  corruptible  bodies,  as  are  here  upon  earth, 
to  eat,  drink,  marry,  and  be  given  in  marriage,  and  afterward 
to  die  again."  (Cud  worth,  Intel.  Syst.,  II.,  606.)  Of  such 
were  the  Ebionite  Christians  teaching  a  gross  Apoc- 
ryphal view  of  the  1,000  years,  "alter  the  resurrection, 
in  an  earthly  Kingdom  of  Christ,  according  to  the  carnal 
desires  and  lusts  of  the  flesh."  (August.  De  Hceres,  ad 
Quod  vult,  etc.,  cap.  8.  De  Civit  Dei  XX.  7.)  Unfor- 
tunately, for  the  holders  of  the  truth,  their  doctrine  not 
yet  wholly  free  from  the  sensuous  images  of  that  age, 
the  name  " Chiliasts"  derived  from  the  1,000  years,  com- 
mon to  both,  was  indiscriminately  applied  to  both.  But 
Christian  Chiliasm  is  not  carnal.  It  is  no  "  materializing 
interpretation"  of  spiritual  prophecies  by  which  Jewish 
Christians  were  naturally  "infected,"  as  with  some  plague- 
spot  of  sensuality.  It  is  no  convenient  heretical  comfort, 
graciously  permitted  for  a  "  distressed  condition  "  of  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FEE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.   317 

church.  It  is  no  Gnostic  conceit,  nor  Patristic  invention. 
Not  Cerinthus  nor  Papias  were  its  authors,  but  John  the 
Apostle.  Not  John  alone,  but  Peter  and  Paul,  Isaiah 
and  Ezekiel,  Daniel  and  Zechariah,  Moses  and  David  and 
Enoch,  "  holy  men  of  God  who  spake  as  they  were  moved 
by  the  Holy  Ghost."  (2  Pet.  1 :  21.)  That  it  has  an  inspired 
Jewish  origin,  so  far  being  a  prejudice  against  it,  only 
entitles  it  to  universal  acceptance,  for  "Salvation  is  of  the 
Jews."  That  it  should  be  denied  because  traduced  or 
perverted,  or  grossly  and,  in  some  cases,  willfully  misrepre- 
sented by  its  enemies,  or  that  it  should  be  held  responsible 
for  the  indiscretion  of  its  friends,  is  a  method  of  estimation 
that  files  us,  at  once,  in  funeral  procession  to  the  grave  of 
all  Christian  doctrine.  That  it  is  beset  with  difficulties  and 
suggestive  of  questions  none  may  resolve,  and  productive, 
at  times,  of  seemingly  irreconcilable  contradictions,  is  only 
what  is  common  to  all  the  doctrines  of  grace,  cherished  by 
the  whole  church  as  the  inspired  word  of  God.  The  ques- 
tion "How  can  these  things  be?5>  is  not  of  faith,  but  of 
puny  reason,  baffled  by  a  mystery  of  glory  no  less  than  by 
a  mystery  of  grace.  Nicodemus  would  have  been  an  Anti- 
Pre-Millennarian!  As  the  doctrine  stands  in  the  Scripture, 
it  is  the  flower  of  the  Protevangel  in  Eden,  the  glorious 
outcome  when  the  veil  that  is  spread  over  all  nations  is 
destroyed,  and  death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory;  the  Future 
Age,  after  Patriarchal,  Jewish,  Pagan,  and  Christian,  ages, 
muffled  in  their  gray  mantles,  with  shadowy  faces,  have 
flitted  forever  away.  It  is  a  Symposium  with  Abraham, 
Isaac,  and  Jacob,  the  Bridegroom's  Wedding,  the  Angels' 
Delight,  the  Overcomers'  Keward,  the  Martyr's  Joy.  It  is 
the  doctrine  of  the  "  Day-Dawn"  and  "Phosphor"  of  Eternal 
Glory,  more  sure  than  the  vision  on  Tabor's  height,  or 
audible  voice  from  heaven;  part  of  the  "Sabbatisrn"  that 
remains  for  the  people  of  God;  the  earthly  bloom  of  a 


318  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST, 

"  kingdom  that  can  not  be  moved  "  when  the  Yoice  that 
once  shook  the  earth  shall  shake  once  more,  "  not  the  earth 
only  but  also  heaven."  (Heb.  12: 26.) 

H.       THE  DOCTRINE  IN  THE  APOCALYPSES  OF  DANIEL    AND  JOHN. 

The  history  of  the  Pre-Millennial  Doctrine  grounds  itself 
eminently  in  the  visions  of  Daniel,  and  so  far  as  inspired 
record  of  it  goes,  completes  itself  in  the  visions  of  John. 
The  visible  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  apostate  from  the 
dynasty  of  promise,  was  blotted  out  under  the  third  raid  of 
Nebuchadnezzar,  the  Babylonian  king,  upon  Jerusalem. 
Tributary,  at  first,  to  the  Gentile  power,  like  a  Danubian 
principality  to  the  Turkish  Empire,  then  the  walls  of  the 
Holy  City  demolished,  and  towers  of  Zion  dismantled  like 
the  fortress  of  Shumla,  it  existed  as  an  independent  external 
polity  no  more.  Shall  God  have  a  visible  kingdom,  an  ex- 
ternal sovereignty  no  more,  forever,  on  earth  ?  While  the 
exiles  weep,  it  is  given  their  conqueror  to  see  a  proud  Col- 
ossus, in  vision,  the  symbol  of  his  own  glory  and  that  of  his 
successors.  It  is  given  Daniel  to  interpret  the  vain  splen- 
dor, the  time  of  its  duration,  the  catastrophe  that  shall 
signalize  its  fall,  and  the  new  kingdom  that  shall  rise  on  its 
ruins.  (Dan.  2:  31-46;  7:  1-27.)  By  the  same  Spirit  it  is 
given  the  beloved  John,  600  years  after,  to  portray  the  steps 
by  which  that  catastrophe  is  reached,  and  that  new  king- 
dom established — a  kingdom  no  more  bounded  by  the  sea 
and  the  river,  but  extensive  as  that  which  David  sang  when 
resigning  the  ensigns  of  sovereignty  to  Solomon,  the  type 
of  his  greater  son.  (Ps.  72,  Apoc.  5:  9,  10;  11: 15-18;  12: 
10;  15:4;  19:11-21;  20:1-6. 

On  such  foundations,  supported  by  instruction  from  our 
Lord  and  His  Apostles,  did  the  Church  of  the  Apostolic 
Age  rear  its  doctrine  of  the  Millennial  Kingdom,  and  the 
Pre-Millennial  Advent  of  Christ  to  inaugurate  the  same. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.   319 

(Acts  3  :  19-21;  Kom.  8:  23;  Kom.  11 :  26.)  The  prophetic 
page  of  Daniel  was  regarded  as  a  sacred  calendar  of  the 
future,  measuring  the  range  of  successive  Gentile  empires 
from  the  captivity  date  to  the  finishing  of  the  mystery  of 
God  under  the  seventh  trumpet,  embracing  the  conversion 
of  the  Jews  or  recall  of  Israel  to  the  covenant,  the  over- 
throw of  Antichrist,  the  first  Resurrection,  and  the  Millen- 
nial Reign  and  Final  Judgment.  (Rev.  10:7;  11:15; 
Rom.  11  :26;  Rev.  19:  20;  20  :  1-7)— a  course  of  history 
spanning  490  years  of  the  later  Jewish  dispensation,  all  the 
Christian  dispensation  closing  with  the  overthrow  of  the 
Beast  and  Little  Horn,  and  the  erection  of  Daniel's  fifth  and 
everlasting  Kingdom  as  an  external  polity,  upon  the  extinct 
polities  of  all  nations.  The  whole  time  thus  covered,  by 
this  scope,  was  the  long  period  of  Israel's  expectation,  run- 
ning parallel  with  the  Captivity,  Restoration,  Rejection,  the 
times  of  the  Antichristian  Apostacy — all  this  the  "Times 
of  the  Gentiles,"— together  with  the  "  Time  of  the  End,"  and 
of  the  1 ,000  years.  The  prophetic  page  of  John,  too,  was 
regarded  by  the  early  Church  as  a  compend,  not  of  the 
details,  but  of  the  chief  events  and  results  of  history  in 
their  relation  to  the  coming  Kingdom,  a  further  develop- 
ment of  the  vision  of  Daniel,  depicting  the  rise  and  prog- 
ress of  Antichrist,  the  final  over  throw  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
and  the  judgment  on  Antichrist  at  the  end  of  the  1,260 
days — the  Great  Image  no  longer  standing  on  its  feet, 
Beast  and  False  Prophet  no  longer  existing,  the  Millennial 
Kingdom  coming  with  One  who  comes  in  the  clouds  of 
Heaven.  With  such  a  view  it  was  impossible  for  the  early 
Church  not  to  be  Pre-Millennarian,  for  the  visions  of  Daniel 
(chap.  7)  and  John  (Apoc.  chaps.  4-22)  were  one.  The  carnal 
hope  of  a  Jewish  Kingdom  having  perished  with  the  death 
of  Christ,  the  Apostolic  Church  addressed  itself  to  the 
work  of  winning  souls  to  Christ,  in  a  present  spiritual 


320 


SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


kingdom  of  inward  hidden  virtue,  a  life  with  Christ  in  God, 
vet  destined  hereafter  to  bloom  into  glorious  visible  domin- 
ion, at  the  manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God.  (Rom.  8  : 18- 
2±;  1  Pet.  1:3-8;  Acts  3  : 3-19,  21.)  The  certainty  of  the 
•"  Appearing  and  Kingdom  "  coming  both  together,  in  out- 
ward splendor  on  earth,  was  never  doubted  by  any  save 
such  as  Hymeneus  and  Philetus,  who  denied  the  resurection. 
The  whole  dispute  in  the  early  Church  gathered  around 
the  order  and  relation  of  certain  events  and  the  time  of 
their  occurrence — a  dispute  terminated  by  the  declarations 
of  Paul  and  the  visions  of  John.  The  early  Church  saw  a 
complete  identification  between  the  vision  of  Daniel  (7 :  7- 
27)  and  the  Apocalypse  of  John  (chaps.  6-21).  It  was 
impossible  to  avoid  the  conclusion  that  Daniel  7  :  9-15,  18, 
22,  26,  27,  described  the  scenes  attending  the  Second  Advent, 
.and  was  parallel  with  Apoc.  19  : 11-21;  20  :  1-7,  the  apostle 
simply  introducing  the  1,000  years,  and  separating  certain 
events  according  to  their  relations,  in  the  remainder  of  the 
chapter — events  which,  in  Daniel's  vision,  are  crowded 
together  irrespective  of  these  relations,  both  ends  of  John's 
vision  being  pressed  together  into  one  plane  in  Daniel.  This 
is  manifest  if  we  compare  the  parallel  expressions  of  the  two 
visions — parallelisms  which  have  attracted  the  attention 
of  so  many  critics. 


DANIEL  SAYS: 

1.  As  to  the  Cloud  Corner:  u  I  went 
on  gazing  in  the  night's  visions, 
and  behold!    One  like  a  Son  of 
Man    came    in    the    clouds     of 
heaven,"  etc.  Dan.  7: 13. 

2.  As  to  the  Persecuting  Anti- 
Christian  Beast :  "  I  went  on  gaz- 
ing, and  the  .same  Horn  made  war 
with     the   saints    and     prevailed 
against  them  until  the  Ancient  of 
Days  came,"  etc.  Dan.  7 : 21,  22. 


JOHN  SAYS: 

1.  As  to  the  Cloud  Comer:  "  Be- 
hold!   He  cometh  in  clouds,  and 
every  eye  shall  see  Him;  they  also 
that  pierced  Him."  Rev.  1 :  7. 

2.  As  to  the  Persecuting  Anti- 
christian  Beast:  "  The  Beast  that 
ascendeth  out  of   the  bottomless 
pit  shall  make  war  against  th'-m, 
and  shall  overcome  them,  and  kill 
them.''     "  War  with  the  saints  and 
overcome  them."  Rev.  11 : 7 ;  13 : 7 ; 
17:14. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PEE -MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.  321 


3.  As  to  the  time  of  the  Domi- 
nancy  of  the  Beast :  ''  They  shall  be 
given  into  Ins  hands  for  a  time, 
times,  and  the  dividing  of  a  time." 
Dan  7 : 25. 


4.  As  to  the  Judgment  on  the 
Anti Christian  Beast:  "  I  went  on 
gazing  till  the  thrones  were  placed 
and  the  Ancient  of  Days  did  sit," 
etc.  "  The  judgment  was  set  and 
the  books  were  opened."  "And 
judgment  was  given  to  the  saints 
of  the  Most  High."  "The  judg- 
ment shall  sit,"  etc.  "  I  went  on 
gazing — till  the  Beast  was  slain, 
and  his  body  destroyed,  and  given 
to  the  burning  flame."  Dan.  7:9, 
10,  22,  26, 11. 


5.  As  to  the  Kingdom  and  Reign 
of  the  triumphant  paints: "  The  time 
came  that  the  saints  possessed  the 
Kingdom."     "The  saints  of  the. 
Most  High  shall  take  the  King- 
dom forever,  even  for  ever  and 
ever."^  "And  the  Kingdom  and 
dominion,  and  the  greatness  of  the 
Kingdom  under  the  whole  heaven 
shall  be  given  to  the  people  of  the 
saints   of   the    Most  High,  whose 
Kingdom  is  an  everlasting  King- 
dom," etc.  Dan.  7 : 18,  22,  27. 

6.  As  to  the  Blessedness  of  the 
Millennial  Reign:  "  Blessed  is  he 
that  waiteth   and   cometh   to  the 
thousand,  three  hundred  and  five 
and  thirty  days."      "Thou   shalt 
rest  and  stand  in  thy  lot  at  the  end 
of  the  days."  Dan.  12: 12,  13. 


3.  As  to  the  time  of  the  Domi- 
nancy  of  the  B  ast:  "For  a  time, 
times,  and  half  a  time."     u  Forty 
and  two  months."     "A  thousand, 
two  hundred  and  threescore  days." 
Rev.  12:14;  11:2,3. 

4.  As  to   the  Judgment  on  the 
Antichristian  Beast:  "  I  saw  heav- 
en opened,  and    behold   a  white 
horse,"  etc.    "  I  saw  thrones  and 
they  sat  upon  them,  and  judgment 
was  given  unto  them."    "And  I 
saw  a  great  white  throne,  and  the 
books  were  opened."    "  And  I  saw 
the  Beast,"  etc.    "  And  the  Beast 
was  taken,  and  with  him  the  False 
Prophet    that    wrought    miracles 
before  them,"   etc.     "These  both 
were  cast  alive  into  a  lake  of  fire 
burning  with  brimstone.    And  the 
remnant  were  slain  with  the  sword 
of  Him  that  sat  on  the  horse,"  etc. 
Rev.  19:11;  20:4,12;  19:20,21. 

5.  As  to  the  Kingdom  and  Reign 
of  the    triumphant   saints:    "  We 
shall  reign  with  thee  on  the  earth." 
"  The  Kingdoms  of  this  world  are 
become  the  Kingdom  of  our  Lord 
and  of  His  Christ;  and  He  shall 
reign  for  ever,  and  ever."     "  And 
I  saw  the  souls  of  them  that  were 
beheaded  for  the  witness  of  Jesus, 
and   for  the    Word  of  God,"  etc. 
"  And  they  lived   and  reigned  a 
thousand  years.    This  is  the  first 
resurrection."    Rev.  5 : 10 ;  11 : 15 ; 
20:4,5. 

6.  'As  to  the  Blessedness  of  the 
Millennial  Reign:   "  Blessed  and 
holy  is  He  that  hath  part  in  the 
first    resurrection;    on    such    the 
second  death  hath  no  power.    But 
they  shall  be  priests  of  God  and  of 
Christ,  and  shall  reign  with  Him 
a  thousand  years."  Bev.  20 : 6. 

Nothing  is  clearer  to  the  scholar  than  that  the  Apoca- 
lypse of  John  is  but  the  expansion  of  the  Apocalypse  of 
Daniel,  and  that  all  the  seals,  vials  and  trumpets  of  John  are 
included  in  the  time  of  the  "  Chazeh  Haveith"  the  UI  was 

21 


322  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

gazing,"  or  "  I  went  on  gazing  "  of  Daniel  ;  his  imperfect 
tense.  Nothing  is  clearer  than  that  the  announcement  of 
one  like  the  Son  of  Man  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven 
relates  to  His  "  Second  Advent,"  and  not  to  His  First,  and 
that  the  early  church  was  not  in  error  when  identifying 
these  visions  as  one — the  latter  only  an  expression  of  the 
former,  developed  under  the  light  of  a  later  eschatology. 
It  was  the  view  of  Justin,  saying  :  "  He  shall  come  as  the 
Son  of  Man,  on  the  clouds,  even  as  Daniel  hath  showed." 
Of  Tertullian,  saying  :  "  Concerning  the  Second  Coming, 
the  same  prophet  writes  :  And,  behold,  One  like  the  Son  of 
Man  came  with  the  clouds  of  heaven."  Of  Chrysostom, 
Cyril,  and  all  the  fathers  before  Constantino's  day.  Alle- 
gorical coming  in  the  clouds  was  unknown  to  the  ancients. 
"  I  challenge,"  says  Cunninghame,  of  Laiushaw,  "  the  oppo- 
nents of  these  views  to  produce  a  single  passage  from  any 
writer  of  authority  in  the  three  or  four  iirst  centuries,  in 
favor  of  the  modern  figurative  interpretation  of  the  words 
of  Dan.  7: 13,  and  of  our  Lord  in  Matt.  24:  30,  and  Luke 
21:  27.  The  prophecy  describes  the  same  events."  (Polit- 
ical Destiny  of  the  Earth,  p.  35.)  So  all  the  best  exposi- 
tors, ancient  and  modern.  "  I  shall  never  believe,"  exclaims 
Mede,  "  but  that  all  those  places  of  the  Son  of  Man's  com- 
ing and  appearing  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  mentioned  in 
the  Gospels  and  in  the  Apocalypse,  are  the  same  with  the 
Coming  in  the  clouds  prophesied  by  Daniel."  (Works  IV., 
Epist.  X.)  So  Keil,  who  is  one  instance  among  the  great 
host  of  later  interpreters  of  this  period  :  "  This  passage 
forms  the  foundation  for  the  declaration  of  Christ  regard- 
ing His  future  Coming,  which  is  described  after  Dan.  7: 13." 
(Keil  on  Daniel,  236.)  The  early  church  was  right.  Cer- 
tain events,  combined  in  one  and  the  same  scene  in  Daniel, 
it  saw,  sundered  1,000  years  apart,  by  the  same  revealing 
Spirit,  in  the  vision  of  John.  A  new  vista  is  opened  in 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.  323 

the  bosom  of  the  later  Apocalypse.  Daniel's  vision  embraces 
all  at  both  ends  of  the  1,000  years  in  John's  vision.  It  is 
the  very  vision  to  which  Christ  referred — a  vision  familiar 
to  the  Sanhedrin — when,  April  7,  A.  D.  33,  the  morning 
of  His  crucifixion,  He  said  to  the  High-Priest:  "  Hereafter 
ye  shall  see  the  Son  of  Man  sitting  on  the  right  hand  of 
power,  and  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven."  Matt.  26:64. 
Another  Sanhedrin  of  the  Holy  Ones  should  sit,  God,  the 
Father,  not  Caiaphas,  presiding,  the  Son  of  Man  coming 
with  the  saints  to  receive  the  Kingdom.  It  settles  the 
question  forever,  that  the  vision  of  the  "  Beclouded  One," 
in  Daniel,  refers  to  the  "  Second  Advent,"  and  that  the 
earthly  Kingdom  set  up  *4  under  the  whole  heaven,"  or  over 
the  whole  earth,  and  "given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of 
the  Most  High,"  and  received  by  Christ,  is  a  Kingdom  not 
given  Him  at  His  Ascension  to  heaven,  but  upon  His 
return  from  heaven  to  earth  ;  a  Kingdom  received  at  the 
Judgment  upon  the  Antichristian  Beast  and  False  Prophet, 
after  the  1,260  days  are  expired  ;  in  other  words,  the  Mil- 
lennial Kingdom  described  by  John.  I  may  add,  in  vindi- 
cation of  this  identity  seen  by  the  early  church,  that  if,  as 
Dr.  David  Brown  holds,  in  his  work  on  the  "  Second 
Advent,"  the  vision  of  Daniel,  in  chapter  7:9-27,  "  has 
nothing  to  do  with  the  Second  Advent  of  Christ"  then  the 
vision  of  John  (Rev.  19: 11-21;  20: 1-6,)  has  nothing  to  do- 
with  that  Advent,  for  both  are  confessed  to  be  the  same 
vision,  alike  by  himself  and  Dr.  Fairbairn  (Brown,  Sec. 
Adv.,  p.  349;  Fairbairn  on  Prophecy,  p.  303.)  But,  if  the 
vision  of  Daniel  does  relate  to  the  Second  Advent,  as 
Christ's  words  to  Caiaphas  clearly  show,  then  the  vision  of 
John  relates  to  the  same  Advent,  and,  by  consequence,  the 
outward  Kingdom  described  by  both  is  the  same  ;  erected 
at  the  same  time — the  time  of  the  smiting  of  the  Image 
on  the  Toes;  the  time  of  the  Judicial  Yerdict  executed  on 


SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


Beast  and  False  Prophet;  the  time  of  the  Second  Coming 
of  the  Son  of  Man  in  the  clouds  of  heaven.  The  "  Blow  " 
and  the  "  Yerdict  "  fall  together.  The  "  Stone  of  Israel  " 
coming  in  power  and  grinding  to  powder,  or  scattering  as 
chaff,  is  the  "  Judge,"  the  "  Shepherd,"  too,  of  the  little 
flock,  to  whom  it  is  the  Father's  good  pleasure  to  give  "  the 
Kingdom."  (Luke  12:  32;  Matt.  9A:  31-46.) 

These  Apocalypses  were  not,  to  the  eye  of  the  early 
church,  mere  scenic  exhibitions;  "high  ideal  and  poetical 
delineations  "  of  what  Drs.  Brown  and  Fairbairn  call  "  the 
agency  of  second  causes,"  clothed  in  judicial  drapery,  hav- 
ing no  reference  to  the  personal  advent  of  the  Heaven- 
Descending  Stone,  to  Judgment.  Pre-Millennarianism 
could  have  flourished  in  no  such  soil.  They  were  symbols 
of  the  judicial  appearing  of  Christ  to  set  up  His  Kingdom. 
From  the  vision  of  Daniel  the  Jewish  Church  derived  its 
assurance  of  the  outward  establishment  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God,  at  the  visible  "Appearing"  of  the  Messiah.  His 
coming  on  a  cloudy  throne  with  flame,  and  pouring  a 
stream  of  wrath  from  its  fire-scattering  wheels  upon  the 
guilty  nations,  was  not  to  annihilate  their  existence,  but 
abolish  their  dominion,  subjecting  them  to  the  visible  sov- 
ereignty of  His  own  scepter,  and  to  the  dominion  of  His 
saints.  Expecting  but  one  advent,  and  contemplating  the 
external  form  of  the  Kingdom  alone,  the  Jew  lost  sight  of 
the  spiritual  internal  form,  and  rejected  Christ  and  all  salva- 
tion. The  opposite  error  to  that,  they  indulge,  who,  con- 
scious of  two  advents,  yet  reject  the  coming  and  visible 
earthly  Kingdom,  because  receiving  now  the  inward,  invis- 
ible and  spiritual.  Not  so  did  the  primitive  church.  From 
Daniel  it  learned  the  source  of  our  Lord's  title,  the 
"  Son  of  Man,"  and  of  Christ's  language  as  to  His  coming 
"  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,"  and  as  to  this  future  "  King- 
dom." Here,  Paul  learned  that  "  the  saints  shall  judge  the 


HISTORY  OP  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.  325 


world."  Here,  too,  lie  learned  how  to  correct  the  Thessa- 
lonian  error,  by  expounding  the  "  Little  Horn "  as  the 
"  Man  of  Sin,"  the  persecutor  of  God's  saints,  sitting  in 
"  the  Temple  of  God."  Here  it  was  he  saw  that  the  "  Day  of 
the  Lord  "  began  with  the  Judgment  on  Antichrist,  whom 
the  Lord  would  destroy,  at  His  Second  Advent,  by  the 
"  breath  of  His  mouth,"  or  a  sentence  of  judgment  from 
His  lips,  and  consume  with  the  "  brightness  of  His  Coin- 
ing," or  the  shining  of  His  personal  presence — a  gleam  of 
which  he  had  once  seen  on  his  way  to  Damascus!  The 
vision  of  Daniel  is  the  effulgent  torch  that  blazes  over 
the  whole  Pre-Millennial  eschatology  of  Paul,  John,  and 
Christ  Himself.  It  flames  through  the  whole  New  Tes- 
tament. 

Nor  was  the  early  church  in  error  when  regarding  the 
1,000  years  of  John,  though  symbolical,  as  a  measure  of 
time,  dividing  the  great  events  of  a  vast  transition  period — 
a  Future  Age  or  World  to  come,  between  the  close  of 
the  present  dispensation  and  the  Age  that  is  endless. 
Clearly,  it  noted  the  contrast  between  the  four  great  events 
marking  the  opening,  and  the  contrasted  four  marking  the 
close,  of  the  1,000  years.  These  events  are  : 


AT  THE  OPENING. 

1.  Satan  bound,  shut  up  and  sealed 
in  the  Abyss  for  1,000  years. 

2.  The  nations  deceived  no  more 
till  the  1,000  years  are  lulfilled. 

8.  Thrones  and  Judgment  given 
to  the  saints  living  and  reign- 
ing with  Christ  1,000  years. 

4.  The  first  resurrection  of  the 
blessed  and  holy  dead,  who  are 
priests  of  God  and  of  Christ, 


AT  THE  CLOSE. 

1.  Satan  loosed  out  of  his  prison 
when  the   1,000  years  are    ex- 
pired. 

2.  The    nations    deceived,    which 
are  in  the  four  corners  of  the 
earth,  Gog  and  Magog. 

3.  The  camp  of  the  saints  and  the 
Beloved  City  compassed  about. 

4.  The  resurrection  of  the  rest  of 
the  dead  after  the  1,000  years 
are  finished. 


326  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

III.       NO  CONTRADICTION  IN  THE   DIFFERENT  REPRESENTATIONS. 

The  antithesis  is  perfect.  It  is  not  possible  to  escape  the 
conviction  that  these  years  express  actual  duration. 
The  apparent  contradiction  —  arising  from  the  interca- 
lation of  the  1,000  years  —  created  between  the  representa- 
tions of  the  Apocalypse  concerning  the  "  Last  Things," 
and  the  earlier  representations  of  the  same  things,  thus 
dividing  events  in  the  later  view,  which,  in  the  earlier 
one,  are  bound  together,  or  seemingly  so  bound,  or 
spoken  together  in  the  same  breath,  or  combined  in  one 
and  the  same  picture,  and  tied  to  the  same  hour  of 
fulfillment,  all  circling  round  the  Parousia,  presented 
no  difficulty  either  to  the  faith  or  the  understanding 
of  the  early  Church.  They  knew  that  Daniel  beheld,  as  a 
single  act,  in  a  single  point  of  time,  while  he  "  went  on  gaz- 
ing," what  required  centuries  for  historical  fulfillment. 
Only  the  high  points  of  the  distant  landscape  are  seen  in 
the  prophetic  or  symbolic  picture,  when  the  Seer  beholds  it 
in  a  right  line,  or  in  front;  not  the  intervening  valleys,  or 
spaces  between.  It  is  what  critics  call  the  "  apotelesmatic 
character  "  of  prophecy  and  symbolism.  It  was  given  to 
John,  who  beheld  these  same  events,  sidewise,  as  they  passed 
in  panorama  before  him,  to  supplement  the  earlier  eschatol- 
ogy,  by  the  seals,  trumpets,  vials,  and  the  1,000  years,  so 
describing  the  special  events  and  distances  involved,  but 
unseen,  by  Daniel  as  he  "  went  on  gazing."  The  whole 
Apocalypse  of  John,  from  chapter  4th  to  the  end,  is  but  a 
development  of  Daniel's  imperfect  tense.  For  the  early 
Church,  well  knowing  that  "  one  day  with  the  Lord  is  as  a 
thousand  years,"  the  Millennial  Day  was  olamic  time,  an 
seonian  period  (Taylor  Lewis,  Six  Days,  p.  372),  including 
all  the  judgments  and  mercies  embraced  in  the  "  times  of 
the  restitution,"  that  day  in  which  both  the  judgments,  the 
one  on  the  Beast  and  False  Prophet,  the  other  on  Gog  and 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FEE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.   327 

Magog,  and  also  both  resurrections,  occurred,  the  one  in  the 
41  morning  "  for  the  dominion  of  the  righteous,  the  other  in 
the  u  evening"  for  the  final  doom  of  the  wicked.  The 
apparent  contradiction  vanished  at  once,  in  view  of  that 
prophetic  glance  which,  in  earlier  and  less  developed  repre- 
sentations, swept  the  whole  field  of  the  future  in  a  moment, 
and  combined  in  the  same  picture,  without  distinction  of 
time,  events  historically  separate.  The  variations  between 
the  representations  of  the  later  Apocalypse  and  the  other 
•earlier  Scriptures,  so  perplexing  to  many,  received  a  satis- 
factory explanation,  inasmuch  as  they  were  seen  to  arise 
from  the  fact  that,  while,  on  the  one  hand,  the  other  Scrip- 
tures contemplated  the  great  events  of  the  "  End,"  or  "  Last 
Day,"  in  mass,  foreshortened  in  perspective,  compressed 
and  unsundored  by  time,  and  uttered  in  one  breath,  the 
Apocalypse,  on  the  other  hand,  divided  the  same  and  dis- 
posed them  according  to  their  successive  temporal  relations 
and  order,  under  the  light  of  a  higher  illumination  and  the 
angle  of  a  new  beholding. 

This  rule  of  interpretation  simply  recognizes  what  Yan 
Oosterzee  calls  "  the  grouping  together  of  that  which  shall, 
inreality,be  realized,  not  side  by  side,  but  in  succession,"  and 
is  abundantly  vindicated  by  the  ablest  scholars.  (Van 
Oosterzee,  Dogmatics  II,  786;  Stuart,  Hints  on  Prophecy, 
p.  131;  Auberlen,  Daniel,  pp.  74,  75,  225-229;  Keil,  Daniel, 
pp.226,  227;  Kliefoth,  Offenbar,  Joh.  Ill,  273;  Zockler, 
Hofmann,  and  Delitzsch,  in  Lange  on  Daniel,  p.  164;  Dor- 
ner,  Person  of  Christ,  I.  p.  407.)  Thus  did  a  true  Chris- 
tian Chiliasm  root  itself  in  the  consciousness  of  the  early 
Church,  the  Millennial  Kingdom  being  ever  regarded  as 
beyond  the  Second  Advent,  and  on  earth. 

Such  was  the  basis  of  primitive  Chiliasm.  The  beloved 
•disciple  bequeathed  to  the  martyr-church  a  proposition 
which,  interpret  it  as  it  might,  still  remained,  viz. :  that 


328  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

after  the  seals,  trumpets  and  vials  are  fulfilled,  Satan  shall 
be  imprisoned  1,000  years,  during  which  the  risen  saints 
shall  reign  with  Christ  on  the  very  scene  of  their  suffering 
— an  event  signalized  by  the  resurrection  of  the  just,  which 
other  Scriptures  taught  them  could  only  occur  at  the 
Appearing  of  Christ.  But  one  interpretation  was  possible 
— the  corning  of  Christ  before  the  1,000  years.  And  all 
the  more  tenaciously  was  it  held  because  given  the  strug- 
gling Church  by  one  who  was  a  "  brother  and  companion 
in  tribulation  and  in  the  Kingdom  and  patience  of  Jesus 
Christ."  (Rev.  1:9.) 

"  In  the  midst  of  persecution,"  says  Neander,  "  it  was  a. 
solace  and  support  to  the  Christians  to  anticipate  that  even 
here  on  earth,  the  scene  of  their  sufferings,  the  Church 
was  destined  to  triumph  in  its  perfected  and  glorified  state. 
They  framed  to  themselves  a  spiritual  idea  of  the  happiness 
of  this  period  perfectly  corresponding  with  the  essence  of 
the  Gospel,  conceiving  under  it  nothing  else  than  the 
dominion  of  the  divine  will,  .the  undisturbed  and  blissful 
reunion  of  the  whole  community  of  saints,  and  the  restora- 
tion of  harmony  between  a  sanctified  humanity,  and  all 
nature  transfigured  to  its  primitive  innocence."  (Hist. 
Chr.  Rel.  I,  650.)  Frequently  marred,  as  was  unavoid- 
able, in  that  age,  by  the  radiant  coloring  of  an  Asiatic  im- 
agination, as  also  by  sensuous  images  under  which,  at 
times,  it  was  presented,  and  by  the  fanatical  extravagance 
of  heretical  men,  it  nevertheless  lost  none  of  its  divine 
authority  and  power.  "  Christian  Chiliusm,"  says  Dr. 
Schaff,  "  if  we  leave  out  of  sight  the  sensuous  and  fanatical 
extravagance  into  which  it  has  frequently  run,  both  in 
ancient  and  in  modern  times,  is  based  on  the  unfulfilled 
promises  of  the  Lord,  and  particularly  on  the  Apocalyptic 
figure  of  His  1,000  years'  reign  upon  earth,  after  the  first 
resurrection,  in  connection  with  numerous  passages  respect- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE -MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.  3 

ing  His  glorious  return  which  declare  it  to  be  near,  and  yet 
uncertain  and  unascer  tamable  as  to  its  day  and  hour,  that 
believers  may  always  be  ready  for  it.  This  precious  hoper 
through  the  whole  Age  of  Persecution,  was  a  copious  foun- 
tain of  encouragement  and  comfort  under  the  pains  of  that 
martyrdom  which  sowed  in  blood  the  seed  of  a  glorious- 
harvest  for  the  Church."  (Hist.  Chr.  Chh.  I,  299). 

IV.    THE   TESTIMONY   OF   THE    APOSTOLIC    FATHERS. 

Consentient,  is  the  voice  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers,  for 
the  pre-millennial  advent,  as  also  the  earliest  literary  Chris- 
tian monuments  that  remain  to  us  wherever  they  have 
spoken  on  the  subject.  Everywhere,  in  their  view,  the 
stages  of  development  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  are  the 
stages  of  the  Parousia  of  Him  who  ever  is,  as  He  ever  was, 
the  Coming  One,  until  the  development  culminates  in  the 
visible  Second  "  Appearing  and  Kingdom  "  together. 
Everywhere  the  future  Parousia  is  the  visible  appearing  of 
Christ,  for  in  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  the  term  "  appearing  " 
is  only  affirmed  of  the  Second  Person  of  the  Trinity, 
incarnate,  never  of  the  Spirit,  never  of  the  Father,  never 
of  Providence,  never  of  Death.  For  the  Fathers,  and  the 
Christian  writers  of  the  Apostolic  Age,  the  Appear- 
ing and  Kingdom  were  the  object  of  their  hope,  and 
next  to  the  cross,  the  greatest  motive  for  their  work.  The 
intermediate  state  was  for  them  but  a  span ;  the  interval 
between  death  and  the  Second  Advent  but  a  moment;  the 
grave  a  slumber,  how  brief,  if  so  be  that  the  Bridegroom 
tarried  and  their  flesh  might  rest  in  hope.  Already  Paul 
had  told  them  that  the  Gospel  had  "  gone  into  all  the  earth^ 
even  unto  the  ends  of  the  world."  (Rom.  10:18.)  The 
"Mystery  of  Iniquity  "  already  worked,  and  for  aught  they 
knew,  the  "  let "  might  be  removed  in  their  day,  Anti- 
christ appear  and  Christ  come.  (2  Thess.  2:1-12.)  Their 


330  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHItlST. 

eyes  and  hopes  were  fixed  on  the  coming  Kingdom  on  earth. 
The  words  of  the  Lord  in  Matt.  12:32,  6  al&v  OVTOC,  they 
understood  as  meaning  this  present  Age,  or  world,  and 
6  a!«v  fi&faw  the  future  Age  or  world,  both  on  the  earth,  the 
viKovftev,  or  inhabited  place,  the  former  the  Kingdom  in  its 
present  mixed  state,  the  latter  the  Kingdom  of  the  resur- 
rection, in  its  purity,  when  all  things  that  offend  are  taken 
out.  Many  of  them  had  Apostolic  instructors,  at  whose 
feet  they  daily  sat  listening  to  their  inspired  words. 
Barnabas  teaches  that  the  "  Sabbath  Rest  will  come  when 
the  Son  of  God  shall  appear  and  destroy  the  Lawless  One. 
The  true  Sabbath  is  the  Sabbath  of  the  1,000  years.  Then 
all  will  be  sanctified  completely,  when  we  shall  have  become 
perfectly  righteous,  that  is,  when  Christ  comes  back  to 
reign."  The  Jewish  carnal  hope,  he  declares  to  be  u  utterly 
vain."  "  The  righteous  man  waits  for  the  Holy  Age,  rdi>  a-ytov 
«1dwo.  He  who  does  God's  commandments  shall  be  glorified 
in  the  Kingdom  of  God.  He  shall  rise  from  the  dead." 
(Donaldson  Apost.  Fath.  230,  240.  Dressel,  Patr.  Opp. 
24,  34.)  These  words  are  meaningless,  if  they  do  not  teach 
a  Kingdom  of  the  resurrection,  on  this  e*-,rth,  introduced  by 
the  Second  Advent.  So  Clement  of  Rome,  whose  "  name 
is  in  the  Book  of  Life,"  (Philip  4: 3),  believing,  as  all  did  in 
the  speedy  coining  of  Christ  to  set  up  His  Kingdom. 
Clement,  the  companion  of  Paul  and  John,  declares  that 
the  apostles,  assured  by  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  and  con- 
firmed by  their  converse  with  Him,  "  all  went  forch  pro- 
claiming the  good  news  that  the  Kingdom  of  God  was  about 
to  come,  ptJfatv  ipxeaOat,  the  righteous  be  made  manifest  in 
the  Kingdom,  and  martyrs  received  their  reward  from  Him 
who  is  the  Fashioner  and  Father  of  the  Ages,  rwv  humn>" 
(Don.  Apost.  Fath.  143,  150.  Dressel  86,  88.)  Polycarp, 
pupil  of  John,  and  who  told  Irenseus  what  familiar  inter- 
course he  had  with  the  beloved  disciple,  contended  with 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.  331 

the  Marcionite  Gnostics  who  denied  the  resurrection,  the 
return  of  Christ,  and  the  judgment,  and  affirmed  that  who- 
ever so  held  was  the  "First  born  of  Satan."  "  If  we  obey 
Christ  and  please  Him  in  this  Age,  T&  vvv  alun,  we  shall 
receive  the  Age  to  come,  rbv  ptzfovra.  He  will  .raise  us  from 
the  dead,  and  we  shall  live  and  reign  with  Him.  The 
saints  shall  judge  the  world."  (Don.  Apost.  Fath.  183,  192. 
Dressel  382.)  In  the  absence  of  any  literature  from 
Ignatius  on  the  subject,  yet  who  can  doubt  that  his  faith 
was  that  of  his  fellow-martyrs?  Papias,  too,  the  com- 
panion of  both  John  and  Polycarp,  and  of  whose  lost  five 
books  but  one  extract  has  survived,  that  not  his  own,  a  man 
whom  the  Antichiliast  Eusebius  first  applauds  as  of  com- 
manding influence,  "  wellskilled  in  all  manner  of  learning, 
and  well  acquainted  with  the  Scriptures,"  (Euseb.  Eccl. 
Hist.  3:36),  then,  afterwards  invidiously  describes  as 
"  limited  in  comprehension,"  because  he  was  a  pre-millen- 
narian  and  taught  the  common  martyr  doctrine,  holding 
that  "  there  will  be  a  millennium  after  the  resurrection 
of  the  dead,  when  the  personal  reign  of  Christ  will  be 
established  on  this  earth."  (Eccl.  Hist.  3:39.)  Among 
the  traditions,  he  collected,  of  what  Christ  is  reported 
to  have  said,  one  is  preserved,  fanciful  enough,  concerning 
the  fertility  of  the  Yine  in  a  renovated  earth,  and  which 
Irenseus  repeats,  adding  another  concerning  the  Sheaf  ol 
Wheat,  and  so,  enlarging  in  Oriental  style,  upon  the  possi- 
bilities of  nature  when  the  curse  is  removed.  Pastor 
llermas,  too,  looked  forward  to  a  renovated  earth,  the 
Age  to  come,  following  the  resurrection  of  the  just. 
"The  elect  of  God,"  he  says,  "will  dwell  in  the  future 
Age,  6  aibv  epxb/usvoc,  and  remain  pure  and  unstained. 
They  will  be  all  joyful  then.  All  things  will  be  smooth  to 
them  if  they  keep  His  commandments.  They  shall  obtain 
victory  and  reward,  but  the  world  that  now  is  shall  be 


332  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

destroyed  by  fire.  This  Age  is  winter  to  the  just,  the  future 
or  coming  Age  is  Summer."  (Don.  Apost.  Fath.  305. 
Dressel  586.)  Thus,  do  all  these  men  speak  in  concert.  It 
is  a  fact  of  no  mean  significance,  that  the  very  men  who 
lived  next  the  apostles,  some  of  whom  conversed  with  them 
every  day,  felt  the  pulse-beat  of  their  inspiration  and  shared 
their  martyrdom,  should  have  left  so  much,  in  the  scanty 
materials  that  survive,  to  attest  their  common  faith  in  the 
pre-millennial  return  of  Christ  to  earth.  If,  while  holding 
this  great  truth,  the  tincture  of  their  Jewish  times  colored 
some  of  their  expressions  and  illustrations,  still  their  testi- 
mony is  not  thereby  impaired.  Better  proof  we  could  not  have 
of  what  was  the  belief  of  the  Apostolic  Church  in  reference 
to  this  matter;  better  we  could  not  desire.  No  higher  eccle- 
siastical authority,  none  more  impressive  than  that  of  holy 
men  standing  as  they  did,  in  the  front  rank  with  Stephen, 
Peter,  James,  Paul,  John,  and  their  companions.  "  They 
shine  with  the  evening  red  of  the  Apostolic  Day,  and 
breathe  an  enthusiasm  of  simple  faith  and  fervent  love  and 
fidelity  to  the  Lord  which  proved  its  power  in  suffering  and 
martyrdom."  (Schaff.  Chh.  Hist.  1:457.)  "All  were  at 
one,"  says  Dorner,  "  men  of  the  Johannine  school,  like 
Polycarp  and  Papias;  of  the  Pauline,  like  Ignatius  and 
Clement  of  Rome;  of  the  Petrine,  like  Barnabas;  of  that 
of  James,  like  Hennas  and  Hegesippus,"  (Dorner,  Person 
of  Christ,  1:143.)  Chiliasm  was  the  common  inheritance 
of  both  Jewish  and  Gentile  Christians,  and  passed  from  the 
Jewish  Christian  to  the  Gentile  Christian  Church  precisely 
in  the  way  the  Gospel  passed.  It  was  fragrant  at  Antioch  as 
at  Jerusalem,  at  Rome  as  at  Ephesus.  History  has  no 
consensus  more  unanimous  for  any  doctrine  than  is  the 
consensus  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers  for  the  pre-millennial 
advent  of  Christ. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.  333 


V.       THE    TESTIMONY    OF   THE   APOLOGISTS. 

Consentient,  too,  is  tlie  testimony  of  all  the  early  Chris- 
tian Apologists  who  have  spoken  on  the  subject.  Some, 
like  Tatian,  Athenageras,  and  others,  devoted  to  the  special 
field  of  polemics  against  pagan  mythology  and  philosophy, 
or  some  special  feature  of  apologetics,  have  recorded  no 
word  as  to  the  millennium.  Any  "  inference,"  from  the 
mere  circumstance  of  silence,  and  in  absence  of  proof,  that 
they  were  opposed  to  Chiliasm,  or  had  a  different  eschatol- 
ogy  from  their  contemporaries  who  asserted  the  Chiliastic 
doctrine  to  be  universal  among  the  orthodox,  is  so  transpa- 
rently fallacious  as  to  effect  its  own  refutation.  Otherwise, 
some  of  them  would  stand  convicted  of  unbelief  in  the  way 
of  salvation,  for,  on  this  subject,  one  of  them  is  absolutely, 
and  several  are  well  nigh  absolutely,  mute.  But  wherever 
they  have  spoken  on  the  subject,  prior  to  the  time  of  Con- 
stan tine's  victory,  their  voice  has  been  harmonious  in  favor 
of  Chiliasm,  save Origen  and  his  transcendental  school.  The 
very  school  that  turned  the  symbols  of  the  Apocalypse  into 
mere  metaphors,  impugned  its  divine  authority,  attributed 
it  to  another  John,  invented  every  one  of  the  rationalistic 
arguments  repeated,  ad  nauseam,  in  modern  times  against 
its  canonicity,  indirectly  encouraged  Gnosticism,  and,  at  one 
time,  well  nigh  wrecked  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection. 
Justin  Martyr,  renowned  in  learning  and  in  the  knowledge 
of  the  Scriptures,  testified  to  Trypho  the  Jew,  the  faith  of 
the  orthodox  church  in  his  day.  To  the  question  of  the 
Jew,  u  Do  you  confess  that  this  place,  Jerusalem,  shall  be 
rebuilt,  and  your  people  be  congregated,  and  rejoice  together 
with  Christ  and  the  Patriarchs,  and  Prophets?"  etc.,  etc., 
Justin  answers,  "  I  confessed  to  you,  before,  that  I,  and 
many  others,  besides,  do  believe,  as  you  well  know,  this 
shall  be.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  I  have  also  signified  to 


334  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

you  that  many,  who  are  not  of  the  pure  and  pious  faith  of 
the  Christians,  do  not  acknowledge  this;  they  are  called 
Christians,  indeed,  but  are  godless,  impious  heretics,  because 
they  teach  doctrines  that,  in  every  respect,  are  blasphemous, 
atheistic,  foolish,  etc.  They  do  not  confess  this,  but  dare 
to  blaspheme  the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and 
say  there  is  no  resurrection  of  the  dead,  but  that  at  death, 
their  souls  are  received  up  into  the  heaven.  Do  not  imagine 
that  these  are  Christians.  But,  I,  and  others  who  are  right- 
minded  Christians  on  all  points,  know  there  will  be  aresur- 
rection  of  the  dead,  and  a  1,000  years  in  Jerusalem,  built, 
adorned,  broadened,  as  the  prophets  Ezekiel,  Isaiah,  and 
others,  declare."  (Dial.  cap.  80.)  "  A  certain  man  among 
us,  of  the  name  of  John,  one  of  the  Apostles  of  Christ,  in 
a  Revelation  which  he  had,  prophesied  that  they  who  were 
faithful  to  our  Christ,  would  accomplish  1,000  years  in 
Jerusalem,  and,  after  that,  the  general  and,  to  speak  concise- 
ly, the  final  (eternal)  resurrection  and  judgment  of  all  would 
take  place.  Just  as  our  Lord  also  said,  They  shall  neither 
marry  nor  be  given  in  marriage,  but  shall  be  equal  to  the 
angels,  the  children  of  the  God  of  the  resurrection."  (Dial, 
cap.  81.)  Such  is  the  testimony  of  Justin,  than  which 
none  could  be  more  strong.  In  Justin's  Millennium,  says 
Donaldson,  "  there  is  not  a  syllable  to  intimate  a  single 
enjoyment  that  is  not  consistent  with  the  utmost  holiness." 
(Hist.  Chris.  Lit.  II.  263.)  The  force  of  Justin's  testi- 
mony is  sought  to  be  evaded  by  the  statement  that  he  is 
merely  narrating  to  Trypho  a  view  he  does  not  expressly 
affirm  as  his  own.  This  is  met  by  the  counter  statement 
that  he  is  narrating  the  faith  of  the  orthodox,  and  the 
grounds  of  it,  he  himself  being  one  of  "  the  right-minded, 
on  all  points."  It  is  a  puerile  argument  to  plead  that 
Irenseus  and  Tertullian  (whose  Chiliastic  Book  is  lost) 
do  not  "say  "  that  Justin  was  a  Chiliast,  or  that  he  is  not 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FEE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.   335 

named  as  one  by  Eusebius  and  Jerome,  the  judgment  of  crit- 
ics being  that  this  omission  by  the  anti-Chiliasts  of  the  fourth 
century  was  caused  by  the  dread  of  his  great  name.  More 
plausible,  yet  equally  powerless,  is  the  argument  that  Justin 
does  not  treat  of  Chiliasm  in  his  "Apologies,"  but  repre- 
sents the  u  Last  things  "  as  combined  in  one  picture  around 
the  Parousia,  and  tied  to  the  same  hour  of  fulfillment. 
This  is  only  what  is  done  in  the  Sacred  Volume  itself.  It 
treats  of  the  1,000  years  only  in  the  Apocalypse,  there  separa- 
ting events  which  in  other  Scriptures  are  spoken  of  as  one. 
It  is  a  treatment  justified  by  inspired  men,  and  practiced 
by  the  church  in  all  ages.*  The  last  and  boldest  effort  to 
break  the  testimony  of  Justin  was  to  corrupt  the  Greek 
text  of  the  first  quotation,  a  corruption  on  which  anti- 
chiliasts  mainly  rely,  but  which  has  signally  failed.  The 
testimony  is  conclusive,  showing  that  Chiliasm  was  the 
orthodox  faith  of  the  age  succeeding  that  of  the  Apostolic 
Fathers.  The  Gnostics  alone  rejected  it,  because  denying 
the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection,  and  well  versed  in  Greek, 
and  well  aware  that  *'  Anastasis  "  in  the  mouth  of  Christ 
and  John  meant  a  literal  resurrection  of  the  body,  rejected 
both  the  Gospel  and  the  Apocalypse.  While  Justin 
was  inconsistent  with  himself  in  limiting  the  covenant 
inheritance  of  earth  to  the  possession  of  Canaan  alone,  and, 
perhaps,  applied  too  literally  some  of  the  imagery  of  the 
prophets,  he  yet  truly  represented  the  two  main  points  of 
the  Church's  faith  in  his  day,  the  Pre-millennial  Advent,  and 
the  literal  "  First  Resurrection." 

Melito,  of  Sardis,  famed  for  his  "sanctity  and  learning," 
shared  the  views  of  Justin,  and  wrote  a  work  on  the 
Apocalypse,  now  lost.  u  Irenseus  the  Great,"  a  disciple  of 
both  Papias  and  Polycarp,  rich  in  experience  of  spiritual 

*  Still  more,  Neander  has  justly  observed  that  the  "  spiritual  ideas  "  of 
Justin  in  his  Apologies  "stand  in  no  manner  of  contradiction  with  this 
doctrine— Chiliasm."  (Hist.  Chr.  Kel.  I.  669.) 


336  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

life  and  knowledge,  defended  (in  his  fifth  Book  on  Her- 
esies) the  pre-millennarian  doctrine  against  the  Platonizing 
Gnostics,  quoting  in  its  support  the  third  Beatitude  of  our 
Lord  (Matt.  5:5)  as  the  Nicene  Bishops  did  afterward, 
"  Blessed  are  the  meek  for  they  shall  inherit  the  earth," 
and  the  promise  iu  Psalm.  37: 11,  "The  meek  shall  inherit 
the  earth,  and  delight  themselves  in  the  abundance  of- 
peace."  He  appeals  with  prodigious  power,  equalled  only 
by  the  massive  eloquence  of  Hippolytus,  to  the  prophecies 
of  Daniel,  John,  and  Christ.  "  Christ,"  says  he,  "  is  the 
Stone  cut  out  without  hands,  who  shall  destroy  temporal 
kingdoms,  and  introduce  an  eternal  one,  which  is  the  resur- 
rection of  the  Just " — a  comment  of  gold,  for  it  dates  the 
blow  from  the  Heaven-Descending  Stone  in  judgment  strik- 
ing the  Monarchy -Image  in  the  time  of  the  toes,  and  as 
contemporaneous  with  the  verdict  on  antichrist.  "  When 
antichrist  shall  have  devastated  all  things  in  this  world 
he  will  reign  for  three  years  and  six  months,  aaid  sit  in 
the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  and  then  the  Lord  will  come  from 
heaven  in  the  clouds,  in  the  glory  of  the  Father,  sending 
this  man  to  the  lake  of  fire,  but  bringing  in  for  the  right- 
eous the  times  of  the  kingdom,  the  rest,  the  hallowed 
seventh-day,  and  restoring  to  Abraham  the  promised 
inheritance."  "  Christ  will  Himself  renew  the  inheritance 
of  the  earth,  and  reorganize  the  mystery  of  the  glory  of 
His  sons."  "In  the  times  of  the  Kingdom,  the  righteous 
shall  bear  rule  upon  their  rising  from  the  dead,  when  the 
creation,  having  been  renovated,  and  set  free,  shall  fructify 
with  abundance  of  every  kind,  from  the  dew  of  heaven,  and 
from  the  fertility  of  the  earth."  (Here  the  tradition  Papias 
recorded  concerning  the  Grapes  is  repeated,  and  another 
added  as  to  the  Wheat.)  "  In  the  times  of  the  Kingdom,  the 
earth  shall  be  called  by  Christ  to  its  pristine  condition,  and 
Jerusalem  rebuilt,  after  the  pattern  of  the  Jerusalem  which  is 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE -MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.  337 

the  mother  of  us  all.  John  saw  this  new  Jerusalem  descend- 
ing upon  the  earth.  After  the  times  of  the  Kingdom,  he 
says,  u  I  saw  a  Great  "White  Throne,  and  Him  who  sat  upon 
it."  "  Man  rises,  not  allegorically,  from  the  dead,  as  I  have 
shown  repeatedly.  And  as  he  rises  actually,  so  shall  he  bo 
actually  disciplined  before-hand  for  incorruption,  and  shall 
go  forward,  and  flourish  in  the  times  of  the  Kingdom." 
John,  therefore,  did  distinctly  foresee  the  first  resurrection 
of  the  Just,  and  the  inheritance  in  the  Kingdom  on  earth." 
(Iren.  Adv.  Hseres.  V.  caps.  26,  30,  33,  35.)  Such  was  the 
testimony  of  this  great  man  against  the  Gnostics.  What- 
ever criticism  we  may  make  upon  some  fanciful  and  sensuous 
notions  and  images  found  in  his  writings,  and  mingling 
with  his  faith,  it  is  certain  he  is  expressing,  on  this  subject, 
not  merely  his  individual  "  opinion,"  but  the  general  faith  of 
the  Church.  And  antichiliasts  who  are  wont  to  assail  the 
type  of  religion  in  the  martyr-age  as  k'  gross  "  and  "  Jewish," 
may  do  well  to  remember  the  words  of  Meander,  "  He  who 
knows  anything  about  the  hidden  depths  of  the  spiritual 
life  in  which  religion  has  its  seat  and  laboratory,  will  be 
cautious  how  he  pronounces  judgment  from  such  appear- 
ances as  these  on  the  surface  against  the  entire  religion  of 
a  certain  period,  in  which  disturbing  mixtures  of  a  sensuous 
element  were  still  to  be  found,  when,  in  such  a  man  as 
Irenreus  we  find  vital  Christianity  and  an  exalted  idea  of 
the  blessedness  of  fellowship  with  God,  united  with  these 
subordinate  notions."  (Hist.  I.  651.) 

Equally  strong  is  the  testimony  of  Lactantius,  the 
<;  Christian  Cicero,"  a  contemporary  of  the  Nicene  Council, 
and  preceptor  of  Constantine's  son.  "It  is  ordained  bj? 
the  disposal  of  God  Most  High  that  the  present  unjust 
Age,  a  space  of  time  having  been  accomplished,  shall  have 
an  end,  when  all  wickedness  becoming  extinct,  and  the  souls 
of  the  godly  called  back  to  a  blessed  life,  there  shall  flour- 
22 


338  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

ish  a  quiet,  tranquil,  peaceable  and  golden  Age,  the  Lord 
Himself  then  reigning.  The  righteous  King  will  institute 
a  great  judgment  on  the  earth  respecting  the  living  and  the 
dead,  and  will  deliver  all  the  nations  in  subjection  to  the 
righteous  who  are  alive;  will  raise  the  righteous  dead  to 
eternal  life,  and  will  Himself  reign  with  them  on  the  earth, 
and  will  build  the  Holy  City,  and  this  Kingdom  of  the 
righteous  shall  be  for  1,000  years.  Then,  the  last  judg- 
ment of  God  will  come  to  pass  against  the  nations.  Then,, 
also,  shall  the  wicked  arise,  not  to  life,  but  to  punishment. 
The  second  resurrection  shall  take  place.  This  is  the  doc- 
trine of  the  holy  prophets  which  we  Christians  follow" 
(Div.  Inst..  Lib.  IY.,  cap.  2,  and  YIL,  cap.  26.) 

Time  and  space  forbid  to  quote  the  remaining  Fathers 
of  the  Anti-Nicene  and  Nicene  Ages.      Only    the  brief- 
est   reference.       Tertullian,    "the    Master,"    as   Cyprian 
was  wont  to  call  him,  renouncing  his  Montanistic   error, 
still   adhered   to   his   Pre-Millennial  faith,    and   wrote   a 
book   in    its   defence,    now   lost,    "The    Hope   of  Believ- 
ers."    Champion  against  the  Marcionites,  he  battled  for 
this  truth  as  did  Irenseus,  Justin  and  Polycarp,  asserting  a 
post-resurrection  Kingdom  on  earth,  of  spiritual  blessings, 
"  ~bona  spiritalia"     Hippolytus,  the  martyr,  most  accom- 
plished of  men  in  his  day,  astronomer,  theologian,  bishop, 
eloquent    as     Massilon,    the    disciple,    too,    of     Irenseus, 
also    identified    the    vision   of    Daniel   YIL,    with     that 
of  John,  Apoc.  XIX,  XX,  and  refers   both   to   the  *»  Sec- 
ond Advent,"  after  which  comes  the  "  Everlasting  Domin- 
ion."    Cyprian,  "the  proto-martyr  of  Carthage,"  once  a 
splendid  legal  advocate,  high  in  social  life,  then  a  noble 
confessor  of  Jesus,  eminent,  too,  as  an  ecclesiastic,  was  a 
Pre-Millennarian.     Commodian,  "the  genius  of   virtue," 
Nepos,    "  the    learned    bishop,    and    poet    of    Arsinoe," 
Methodius,  the  martyr,  whose  last  battle  was  against  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.   339 

destructive  school  of  Origen,  and  in  defence  of  the  resur- 
rection, Yictorinus,  the  martyr,  whose  work  Jerome  has  so 
shamefully  mutilated,  Gregory,  of  Nyssa,  Sulpicius,  Sev- 
erus,  old  Paulinus,  the  friend  and  stay  of  Athanasius — all 
shining  names — held  the  Chiliastic  faith. 

Such,  then,  is  only  a  part  of  the  witness  furnished  by  an 
age  Dorner  has  well  styled  "  predominantly  eschatological." 
Save  Origen  and  his  school,  of  emasculating  damage  to  the 
Word  of  God,  all  the  Apostolic  Fathers,  and  all  the  Apol- 
ogists in  the  age  succeeding,  and,  as  Elliott  assures  us,  "  all 
primitive  expositors,  except  Origen,  and  the  few  who 
rejected  the  Apocalypse,  were  Pre-Millennarians,  and  con- 
strued the  First  Resurrection  literally."  (Hor86  Apoc..  1Y., 
306.)  "  In  all  the  writings  of  these  centuries,"  says  Gies- 
eler,  a  most  accurate  historian,  "  Chiliasm  is  so  distinctly 
and  prominently  mentioned  that  we  can  not  hesitate  in 
regarding  it  as  the  general  belief  of  that  age."  (Eccl. 
Hist.,  I.,  §  166.)  "Chiliasm,"  says  Mede,  "was  the 
general  belief  of  all  orthodox  Christians  in  the  age  imme- 
diately following  the  Apostles,  and  none  were  known  to  deny 
it  but  the  heretics,  who  denied  the  resurrection."  (Works,. 
pp.  602, 771.)  Hase  declares:  "It  was  the  old  and  popular 
faith."  (Hist.,  Chh.,  p.  688.)  "  The  stream  of  all  the  best 
approved  antiquity  before  Jerome — Hebrews,  Greeks, 
Latins — ran  that  way."  (Homes,  Res.  Rev.,  p.  370.)  "It. 
was  universally  received  by  almost  all  teachers,"  says- 
Muencher  (Chh.  Hist.,  II.,  p.  415.)  Chillingworth,  argu- 
ing against  Rome's  abandonment  of  the  doctrine,  says: 
"The  doctrine  that,  before  the  world's  end  Christ  should 
reign  upon  earth  1,000  years,  and  that  saints  should  live 
under  Him  in  all  holiness  and  happiness,  etc.,  is,  by  the 
present  Roman  Church,  held  false  and  heretical,"  but,  "  it 
was  the  doctrine  believed  and  taught  by  the  most  eminent 
Fathers  of  the  Age,  next  after  the  Apostles,  and  by  none  of 


340  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

that  Age  opposed  or  condemned.  Burton,  of  Oxford,  in  his 
Bampton  Lectures  for  1829,  and  Bishop  Russel,  both  Anti- 
chiliasts,  assert  that  the  matter  is  beyond  successful  denial. 
The  latter,  in  his  History  of  the  Scotch  Episcopal  Church 
(p.  84),  affirms  that  "  down  to  the  beginning  of  the  fourth 
century,  the  sure  and  certain  hope  entertained  by  the  Chris- 
tian world,  that  the  Redeemer  would  appear  on  earth  and 
exercise  authority  during  1,000  years,  was  universal.'' 
Desprez,  Vicar  of  Alvediston,  Wiltz,  in  -his  recent  serni- 
infidel  prseteristic  book  on  Daniel  and  John,  confesses 
"  that  the  writer  of  the  Apocalypse  meant  to  assert  a  lit- 
eral reign  of  Christ  and  His  saints  upon  earth,  for  1,000 
years,"  and  that  this  receives  confirmation  from  the  fact 
that  the  Church  of  the  first  three  centuries  was  essentially 
chiliastic."  (Dan.  and  John,  p.  309.)  Alfbrd  to  the  same 
purpose:  "The  whole  Church,  for  300  years,  understood 
Apoc.  20:  J -6  in  a  plain,  literal  sense,"  and,  "it  is  the  most 
cogent  instance  of  unanimity  which  primitive  antiquity 
presents."  (N.  T.,  Yol.  II.,  part  2,  1,088.)  The  effort  to 
deny  this  unshakable  position,  is  the  futile  work  of  those 
who  first  seek  to  show  that  Christian  Chiliasm  was  derived 
from  Jewish  apocryphal  books,  and  next,  that  only  a  few 
enthusiasts  believed  it.  It  is  the  controversial  device  of 
Origen,  Eusebius,  Jerome  and  Dionysi us,  followed  painfully 
by  Whitby,  whose  crowning  reason  for  opposition  to  the 
martyr  faith  should  exclude  him  from  the  consideration  of 
all  impartial  men,  viz.:  that  Chiliasm  "shakes  the  founda- 
tions of  Episcopacy,  the  translation  of  the  Sabbath  to  the 
Lord's  day,  and  other  Constitutions  derived  from  the  Apos- 
tles." (Treat.  Mill.,  I.,  §  VI.,  1.)  The  truth  is  this  "  pre- 
cious hope,"  as  Dr.  Schaff  calls  it,  or  "  pearl  of  true  doc- 
trine," as  Lange  names  it,  was  a  gift  to  the  martyrs  from 
one  who  \va.s  their  "  brother  and  companion  in  tribulation, 
and  in  the  kingdom '  and  patience  of  Jesus  Christ" — the 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.   341 

consolation  of  the  martyr  church,  which  held  it  fast  in  life 
and  death. 

VI.       CRITICISM    OF   THE    CENSURERS    OF    THE    DOCTRINE. 

I  shall  be  spared  the  necessity  of  any  protracted  criticism 
of  the  assaults  made  upon  Christian  Chiliasm  by  those 
who,  having  first  misrepresented  it,  then  opposed  it;  or  of 
showing  how  the  objections  to  a  false  Chiliasm  have  been 
perpetuated  in  history  as  alleged  against  the  true;  or  of 
the  various  devices  by  which  a  doctrine  once  so  dear  to  the 
whole  church  was  sought  to  be  disparaged;  or  of  the  means 
by  which  it  was  corrupted,  and  then  discrowned.  The 
fact  that  Montanus  and  his  sect,  ejected  from  the  church, 
adhered  to  a  false  Chiliasm,  and  that  the  Alogi,  another 
heretical  sect,  repudiated  the  true;  the  alleged  assertion  of 
Justin,  and  alleged  admission  of  Irenaens  used  to  support 
it,  that  Chiliasm  was  not  the  general  faith  of  the  primitive 
Church;  the  controversial  device  set  afloat  by  Eusebius, 
court-flatterer  of  Constantine,  and  hostile  to  Athanasius, 
that  a  certain  Caius  of  Rome  denying  the  pre-millennial 
advent  of  Christ,  ascribed  the  paternity  of  Chiliasm  to 
Cerinthus,  as  others  did  to  Papias;  the  paraded  victory  of 
Dionysius  the  disciple  of  Origen  over  Coracion  the  dis- 
ciple of  Nepos;  the  ridicule  made,  of  the  Grapes  of  Papias 
and  the  Wheat-Sheaf  of  Irenseus,  of  the  descending  city  of 
Tertullian,  of  the  continuity  of  the  human  race  during 
the  millennium  affirmed  by  Lactantius,  the  improper 
charge  made  by  Jerome  that  the  orthodox  church  asserted 
an  Ebionite  Chiliasm  with  the  revival  of  Mosaic  rites  and 
sensual  indulgence,  and  the  authority  of  Augustine's  great 
name;  all  these,  as  means  of  bringing  the  doctrine  into  dis- 
repute, are  well  known.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  Chiliasm  was 
perverted  by  Montanus  to  the  doctrine  of  a  Phrygian 
principality  with  Pepuza  as  its  metropolis,  and  that  the 


342  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHBIST. 

Alogi  denied  the  inspiration  and  canoiiicity  of  both  the 
Gospel  and  Apocalypse  of  John.  As  to  the  alleged  asser- 
tion of  Justin  (Dial.  80,)  that  Chiliasm  was  not  the  general 
belief  of  the  primitive  Church, it  rests  alone  upon  an  inter- 
polated and  corrupted  text,  the  true  and  contrary  import 
of  which  has  been  triumphantly  vindicated  by  Daille,  Mcde, 
Newton,  Yint,  Chilli ngworth,  Homes,  Brooks,  Donaldson, 
and  others.  And  as  to  the  alleged  admission  by  Irenseus, 
interpreted  so  as  to  make  Irenseus  say  there  were  opposers 
of  Chiliasm  among  the  orthodox  who  agreed  only  with  the 
Gnostics  in  this  one  thing,  it  rests  upon  an  entire  misap- 
plication of  the  words  of  Irenseus,  who  simply  states  that 
"  certain  persons,"  who  were  "  reckoned "  among  the 
orthodox,  had  become  infected  by  the  Gnostic  heresy,  deny- 
ing the  doctrine  of  the  "  resurrection  of  the  body,"  and 
that  there  were  those  who  differed  as  to  the  meaning  of 
Isa.  11:6-9,  the  "wolf  and  the  lamb,"  whether  it  should 
receive  a  literal  fulfillment  in  the  millennium,  or  be  taken 
merely  as  figurative  of  "coming  to  the  harmony  of  the 
faith."  Iren.  Adv.  Hanres.  Y.  cap.  31,  32:  1,  33  end.  Shedd 
Hist.  Doct.  II.  394.  The  question  was  not  as  to  the 
belief  of  the  primitive  Church  in  the  millennium  itself. 
The  story  of  Eusebius  is  not  supported  by  a  single  line  of 
contemporary  authority,  and  the  evidence  is  complete 
among  all  critics,  that  the  so-called  Caius,  if  such  a  man 
ever  existed  to  dispute  with  Proclus,  belonged  to  the  sect 
of  the  Alogi  who  held  the  Apocalypse  to  be  a  forgery. 
Mosheim  and  Neander  repel  the  charge  that  the  Chiliasm 
of  the  Church  came  from  Cerinthus,  and  Mansel  confirms 
their  judgment.  (Gnostic  Heresies  114.)  And  though 
Neander,  following  Eusebius,  seems  to  think  that  the 
Chiliasm  of  the  fathers  flowed  from  Papias  (Hist.  Chr. 
Rel.  I.  651,)  yet  Mosheim  declares  "  Eusebius  is  not  to  be 
trusted."  (Three  Centuries  II.  245.)  Moses  Stuart,  more- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.  343 

over,  appealing  to  Andreas  and  Arethas,  repels  the  charge 
that  Papias  built  his  Chiliasm  on  fables  (Stuart  Apoc.  I. 
303-307,)  and  Donaldson  rebukes  the  meanness  of  Eusebius 
saying,  "  he  spoke  at  first  of  Papias  as  he  ought,  but,  in 
coming  suddenly  on  a  doctrine  he  disliked,  he  rashly  pro- 
nounced the  propounder  of  it  as  a  man  of  small  capacity  " 
(Hist.  Chr.  Lit.  I.  313,)  and  Hase  reproves  Eusebius  once 
more,  and  vindicates  Papias,  saying,  "he  took  peculiar 
pleasure  in  the  living  word,  and  it  was  only  when  he  was 
judged  by  an  age  whose  spirit  had  become  essentially  dif- 
ferent that  he  was  accused  of  possessing  a  very  contracted 
mind."  (Chh.  Hist.  73.)  As  to  the  lauded  victory  of 
Dionysius  over  Coracion  and  early  Chiliasm,  it  was 
won  only  after  Nepos,  a  man  of  acknowledged  piety  and 
ability,  was  dead,  and  by  means  of  the  allegorizing 
principles  of  Origen,  the  public  denial  of  the  canonicity 
of  the  Apocalypse,  the  use  of  all  those  arguments 
that  crowd  the  pages  of  modern  rationalistic  "  Intro- 
ductions" to  that  inspired  book,  the  plea  for  peace  and 
reunion  in  a  shattered  diocese,  together  with  the  ironic  smile, 
and  pleasing  art,  of  an  accomplished  Christian  bishop. 
As  to  the  antichiliastic  vintage  pressed  from  the  grapes  of 
Papias  so  many  quaff  to  stimulate  their  zeal,  and  the 
Wheat  Sheaf  of  Irenseus  so  many  love  to  thrash,  in  order 
to  garner  a  harvest  of  objections  against  the  pre-millennial 
return  of  Christ,  I  can  only  concur  with  Dorner,  who 
remarks,  when  chastising  what  he  calls  "  the  self-conceited 
mockery  of  Corrodi,"  that  they  who  stumble  at  such  things 
are  of  an  "  unpoetical  nature,  and  of  mental  incapacity 
sympathetically  to  enter  into  these  matters."  (Person  of 
Christ,  1,  p.  408.)  And  what  if  Irenaeus  and  Tertullian 
took  as  literal  the  carbuncle,  sapphire,  crystal  bulwarks,  and 
pearly  gates,  of  New  Jerusalem  let  down  from  heaven,  not 
-discriminating  between  metaphor  and  symbol  combined  in 


344  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

one  picture,  arid  the  latter  appealed  to  a  phenomenon  seen 
in  the  Parthian  war,  more  beautiful  than  the  mirage  of  the 
desert,  is  a  matter  so  easily  condoned,  an  argument  against 
the  power  of  Him,  who,  by  the  simple  laws  of  refraction, 
can  irradiate  the  sky  with  glowing  colors,  or  by  the  laws  of 
chemistry  enrich  the  earth  with  gems  and  gold?  Is  it  an 
argument  that  New  Jerusalem,  descending  from  God  out 
of  heaven,  shall  not  have  "  the  brightest  glories  earth  can 
yield,  and  brighter  bliss  of  heaven,'1  or  that  Christ  will  not 
come  till  the  close  of  the  1,000  years?  What  if  some  of 
the  early  fathers  blended,  hastily,  the  millennial  state  with 
that  of  Eternal  Glory?  The  splendors  of  the  latter  are 
reflected  in  the  bosom  of  the  former,  in  the  Apocalyptic 
page  itself.  And  what  if  Lactantius  taught,  as  multitudes 
believe  to-day,  that  the  human  race  will  be  perpetuated 
during  the  millennium  among  the  nations  that  escape  the 
Judgment  on  Antichrist?  Is  it  righteous  to  charge  that  he 
taught  the  propagation  of  risen  saints;  or,  that,  because  he 
celebrated  the  abundance  and  joy  of  a  renovated  earth,  he 
therefore  taught  "  gluttony?"  I  shall  answer  Jerome  from 
the  word?  of  the  illustrious  Joseph  Mede.  "O  Jerome! 
who,  with  thy  Dionysius  of  Alexandria,  dost  fasten  upon 
the  opinion  of  tliemillennarians  the  injury  of  circumcision, 
the  blood  of  sacrifices  and  all  legal  ceremonies,  the  things 
that  Jews  and  Heretics  have  dreamed  of  as  belonging  to 
their  millennium,  and  dost  dash  them  on  the  Christians, 
hath  this  become  your  candor?  Thou  dost  bewray  thy 
crimination,  for  thou  thyself  writest,  "  Which  things, 
although  we  follow  not,  yet  we  can  not  condemn,  because 
many  ecclesiastical  men,  and  martyrs,  too,  have  said  the 
same.  Prythee!  tell  me,  did  those  ecclesiastical  men  and 
holy  martyrs  ever  say  that  circumcision  and  sacrifices 
should  be  restored  in  Christ's  Kingdom?"  etc.,  etc.  (Works 
pp.  807,  899.)  Well  has  the  learned  Cliillingwurth  said 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.  345- 

that  the  early  Ghiliasts  were  "  overborne  by  imputing  to 
them  that  which  they  held  not,  by  abrogating  the  authority 
of  St.  John's  Revelation  as  some  did,  or  by  derogating  from 
it  as  did  others."  (Works  p.  734.)  As  to  Augustine,  he  held 
the  martyr  doctrine  until  swerved  from  it  by  adopting  the 
"  Recapitulation  and  Repetition  "  theory  of  interpreting  the 
Apocalypse  in  connection  with  a  spiritualizing  and  idealizing 
exegesis,  borrowed  from  Origen,  and  the  Donatist  Tichonius,. 
who,  sitting  with  open  Apocalypse  before  his  pupils,  sweet- 
ened to  the  work,  saying:  "  Fratres  charissimi,  Apoca- 
lypse explanare  curabimus,  secundum  Anagogen!  Dearest 
brethren,  we*  shall  take  good  care  to  explain  the  Apocalypsin 
anagogically !"  i.  e.,  convert  symbols  into  metaphors  by  an 
act  of  will,  and  hold  that  the  figurations  of  the  book  being 
all  metaphor,  have  no  relation  to  literal  events  in  world  and 
church  history,  but  only  to  abstract  spiritual  truths!  Yet,. 
even  after  his  adoption  of  this  false  theory  and  method, 
Augustine  only  excepted  to  the  false  Chiliasm  which  allowed 
"  immoderate  carnal  banquets,"  and  not  to  the  true,  in 
which  "  spiritual  delights  were  believed  to  be  present  to  the 
saints  by  means  of  the  presence  of  the  Lord."  (De  CiviL 
Dei.  20:  7.)  This  throws  light  on  the  whole  controversy. 
Two  factors,  as  Ebrard  has  observed,  were  included  in  the 
Chiliastic  doctrine.  "  On  the  one  side  the  knowledge  that 

O 

the  Church  can  not,  in  the  present  world-aeon,  come  to  per- 
fection except  by  the  return  of  Christ  and  resurrection  of 
the  dead..  On  the  other,  that  this  telluric  world,  though 
destroyed  by  sin  is,  in  its  original  substance,  good,  and  must 
once  more  attain  perfection."  Origen  and  his  school 
repudiated  these  ideas,  holding  that,  matter  being  bad,  the 
earth  must  be  annihilated,  and  that  "  the  future  glory  of  the 
saints  is  not  connected  with  the  glorification  of  their  earthly 
bodies  interpenetrated  by  the  resurrection-life  of  Christ. 
The  Chiliasts  took  opposite  ground."  (Kirch-und  Dograen 


346  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST 

gesch.  L,  p.  115, 116.)  When  we  look  at  the  gross  materializ- 
ing and  Judaistic  conceptions  of  the  Kingdom  advocated  by 
false  Chiliasm  on  the  one  side,  and  the  purely  spiritual  and 
idealistic  conceptions  of  it  advocated  by  Alexandrianism  on 
the  other  side,  asserting  that  "  the  Divine  promises  pertain 
to  nothing  earthly,"  we  see  at  once,  how  the  true  Chiliasm 
meditated  both  extremes,  and,  as  Dorner  says,  "  atoned  the 
•contradiction  between  them,  removed  the  dualism,"  and 
maintained  its  ground  as  the  common  faith.  "  The  faith- 
ful," says  Hase,  "  who  died,  were  consoled  that  they  should 
be  raised  again  to  participate  in  the  glories  of  the  King- 
dom. Such  was  the  faith  of  the  whole  church,  until  the 
common  ecclesiastical  doctrine  became  suspected  by  the 
•extravagance  of  a  party  (Montanist),  and  was  opposed  by  a 
school  (Alexandrian)  which  contended  that  none  but  spirit- 
ual blessings  were  of  any  importance."  (Hist.  Chr.  Chh.  p. 
689.) 

VII.      TESTIMONY   OF  THE   NICENE   AGE. 

And  yet  how  vain  was  such  opposition  we  learn  from  the 
testimony  of  Gelasius  Cyzicus,  a  Greek  historian  of  the 
fifth  century,  A.D.  476,  who,  collecting  the  records  of  the 
Council  of  Nice,  scattered  in  the  Arian  war,  an  til  scarce 
an  authentic  copy  of  the  full  proceedings  could  be  found, 
.gives  us  the  explanation  of  the  Nicene  faith  concerning 
the  resurrection  state.  We  may  judge  how  strong  was  the 
martyr  doctrine  when,  notwithstanding  fifty  years  of  oppo- 
sition from  Alexandrian  and  Gnostic  schools,  the  Apoca- 
lypse was  still  held  to  be  canonical,  and  Nicene  bishops 
.and  pastors  prepared  the  following  "  Diatyposis,"  or  Ecclesi- 
astical Form,  to  be  confessed  and  taught  by  the  church, 
as  the  genuine  doctrine:  "We  expect  a  new  heaven  and 
earth,  according  to  the  Scriptures,  when  the  Appearing 
and  Kingdom  of  the  great  God  and  our  Saviour,  Jesus 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.   347 

Christ,  shall  have  shone  forth.  Then,  as  Daniel  says,  the 
saints  of  the  Most  High  shall  receive  the  Kingdom.  And 
the  earth  shall  be  pure  and  holy,  a  land  of  the  living  and 
not  of  the  dead,  which  David,  foreseeing,  exclaimed:  <I 
believe  I  shall  see  the  goodness  of  the  Lord  in  the  land  of 
the  living,  land  of  the  meek  and  humble.'  For,  k  Blessed,' 
says  Christ,  '  are  the  meek,  because  they  shall  inherit  the 
earth.'  And  the  prophet  says:  '  The  feet  of  the  meek  and 
humble  shall  tread  it."  (Hist.  Act.  Council,  Nicse,  Lib. 
II.,  cap.  29.)  No  wonder  that  a  testimony  of  such  value, 
preserved  by  a  historian  of  such  scrupulous  care  as  Gela- 
sius,  should  have  been  buried  out  of  sight,  at  first,  by  the 
advancing  papacy  under  the  plea  that  the  Chiliastic  doc- 
trine of  a  kingdom,  different  from  the  Christian  empire, 
was  offensive  to  the  national  feelings  of  Greeks  and 
Romans,  and  a  hinderance  in  the  missionary  effort  to  con- 
vert the  nations;  and  next,  wholly  omitted,  or  sought  to  be 
disparaged  by  modern  Romanist  writers,  lest  its  authority 
should  stand  in  the  way  of  their  church  and  state  theory  of 
the  Millennium.  The  art,  however,  that  mutilated  Yicto- 
rinus,  and,  as  Daille  says:  "foisted  a  contradiction  "  into 
Justin's  testimony,  has  failed,  and  in  face  of  it  all,  the 
"  Diatyposis "  stands  a  living  witness  to  the  faith  of  the 
orthodox  Nicene  bishops  and  pastors,  in  Binniu-e,  the 
Louvre,  and  other  editions,  of  the  Councils,  a  monument  of 
the  church's  doctrine  when  emerging  from  the  martyr  flame. 
Whitby  acknowledges  its  validity,  saying  that  Chiliasm 
was  received,  "  not  only  in  the  Eastern  parts  of  the  church 
by  Papias,  Justin,  Irenseus,  Nepos,  Appolinarius,  Metho- 
dius, and  in  the  West  and  South  by  Cyprian,  Yictorinus, 
Tertullian,  Lactantius,  and  Severus,  "but  by  the  Council  of 
Nice"  (Treatise  on  Tradition.)  And  Daille,  antichiliast, 
and  no  incompetent  authority,  declares:  "It  plainly 
appears  that,  in  Jerome's  time,  i.  0.,  about  the  beginning  of 


34:8  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

the  fifth  century,  this  opinion  generally  prevailed  in  the 
church."  (Use  of  the  Fathers,  290.)  How  completely  the 
whole  chain  of  testimony,  of  authority,  and  of  competent 
and  impartial  judgment,  sets  aside  the  praeteristic  state- 
ments that,  "  It  can  not  be  said  that  Chiliasm  was  the 
faith  of  the  church  of  the  first  two  centuries,"  and  that  its 
flourishing  period '"was  a  brief  one  of  about  a  hundred 
years."  (Amer.  Presb.  and  Theol.  Rev.,  Apr.,  1864,  218. 
Shedd,Hist.  of  Doct.,  II,  395.) 

VIII.       THE    DOCTRINE    CRUSHED    BY   AN    APOSTATIZING    CHURCH. 
NEW    THEORY    OF    THE    MILLENNIUM. 

I  come  now  to  speak  of  the  period  succeeding  the  polit- 
ico-religious triumph  of  Constantine;  the  period  of  the 
temporal  supremacy  of  Christianity  in  the  Roman  Empire. 
The  martyr  age  had  passed  away.  No  more  councils  like 
that  of  Nice,  in  which  martyrs,  fresh  from  the  Maximian 
persecution,  answered  to  their  names.  No  Paphnutius, 
any  more,  venerable  with  silver  hairs,  one  eye  gouged  out 
by  the  tool  of  the  Pagan  torturer,  its  frightful  socket  seared 
with  red-hot  iron,  both  legs  ham-strung,  and  standing 
beside  young  Athanasius  of  only  twenty-seven  summers, 
defending  the  orthodox  faith.  A  new  generation  has 
appeared,  intoxicated  with  the  Christian  conquest  of  heath- 
enism, the  careering  splendor  of  a  church  and  state  estab- 
lishment, and  whirling  a  mystic  dance  around  the  tranquil- 
ity  of  the  empire.  "As  the  aspect  of  outward  affairs 
changed  under  Constantino,  these  views  lost  their  hold  on 
men's  minds.  The  church  now  prepared  for  a  long-con- 
tinued period  of  temporal  prosperity,  and  the  State-Church 
of  that  time  forgot  the  millennial  glory  of  the  future." 
(Kurtz,  Chh.  Hist.,  I.,  47.)  "When  Christianity  became  a 
worldly  power  by  Constantine,  the  hope  of  the  future  was 
weakened  by  the  joy  over  the  present  success."  (Berigel 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.   349 

Erklart,  Offenb.,  664.)  "  Under  Constantine,  Christianity 
being  established,  Christians  began  looking  at  its  existing 
temporal  prosperity,  as  fulfilling  the  prophecies,  and  ceased 
to  look  for  Christ's  promised  reign  on  earth."  (Jamieson 
and  Faussett,  Commentary,  VI.,  Introd.  to  Apoc.,  p.  70.) 
"  Chiliasm  disappeared  in  proportion  as  Roman  Papal 
Catholicism  advanced.  The  Papacy  took  -to  itself,  as  a 
robbery,  that  glory  which  is  an  object  of  hope,  and  can  only 
be  reached  by  obedience  and  humility  of  the  cross.  When 
the  church  became  a  harlot,  she  ceased  to  be  a  bride  who 
goes  to  meet  her  Bridegroom,  and  thus  Chiliasm  disap- 
peared. This  is  the  deep  truth  that  lies  at  the  bottom  of 
the  Protestant  anti-papistic  interpretation  of  the  Apoca- 
lypse." (Auberlen,  Daniel,  p.  375.)  "Words  of  truth  and 
soberness!  A  new  theory  of  the  Millennium  was  among 
the  results  that  followed,  in  time,  the  fabled  Labarum,  and 
the  battle  of  Saxa  Rubra  and  the  Milvian  bridge.  It  is 
that  the  Millennium  is  a  present  fact.  The  ecclesiastical  state 
establishment  became  the  visible  Christocracy,  the  King- 
dom come.  The  vision  of  Daniel,  chapter  VII.,  and  that 
of  John,  Apocalypse,  chapter  XX.,  began  to  be  referred  to 
the  first  advent,  not  to  the  second.  The  coming  in 
clouds  is  poetical  delineation.  The  Arian  Eusebius 
indulges  his  dream  by  an  elaborate  "  Panegyric  on  the 
splendor  of  our  affairs."  The  cross,  once  a  symbol  of 
ignominy, — "Infelix  Lignum!" — is  ever}Twhere  in  honor  ; 
on  the  Roman  standard,  the  soldier's  shield,  the  Pontiff's 
robes,  the  Church's  altar,  the  temple  of  Victory — an  object 
of  perpetual  adoration.  The  Phoenix,  radiant  with  sun- 
beams, shines  on  the  medals  and  coins  of  the  day,  emblem 
of  the  "  First  Resurrection."  Ezekiel's  vision  of  dry 
bones,  flesh-covered  and  standing  erect,  is  realized.  Bap- 
tism is  regeneration.  Crowned  neophytes,  arrayed  in  white 
robes,  with  palm-branches  in  their  hands,  surround  the 


350  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

altar,  while  priests  and  elders  chant  the  new  song.  The 
martyrs  become  intercessors.  All  the  Old  Testament 
prophecies  respecting  Israel  are  claimed  for  the  empire  of 
the  fourth  century,  and  New  Jerusalem  shines  beneath  the 
sceptre  of  an  unbaptized,  imperial  Roman  Catechumen, 
dazzling  in  purple  and  gold.  Ere  long,  the  1,000  years, 
beginning  with  the  Second  Advent,  were  ingeniously  slipped 
lack)  by  "  Recapitulation "  over  the  whole  line  of  the 
Christian  dispensation,  and  dated  from  the  birth  and  min- 
istry of  Christ  (Dusterdieck  Offenbar,  Einleit,  p.  15.) 
The  Tichonian  "  secundum  anagogen"  is  applied  to  the 
exposition  of  the  Apocalypse,  the  end  of  that  book  being 
made  the  beginning  and  the  beginning  the  end.  Later  vis- 
ions are  made  to  overlap  the  earlier.  For  the  sake  of  con- 
venience,— "  secundum  anagogen  " — the  binding  of  Satan, 
chapter  XX.,  is  identified  with  the  dejection  of  the  Dragon, 
chapter  XII.,  while  chapter  XX.  is  interpreted  as  inserted 
between  the  10th  and  llth  verses  of  chapter  XIX.,  so  as  to 
make  the  Millennium  precede  the  vision  of  the  Second 
Advent  of  Christ,  who  is  there  figured  as  Conqueror  on  the 
White  Horse.  (Diisterd.  Ofienb.,  541,  225,  32,  43;  Auber- 
len,  Daniel,  322;  Luthardt  Lehre,  v.  d.  Letzten  Dingen, 
234;  Kliefoth,  Offenb.,  III.,  247,  251;  Rinck  Zeichen,  331; 
Elliott  Horse,  IY.,  48,  50,  194,  195;  Bickerstlth,  Promised 
Glory,  177;  Birks,  Unfulf.  Proph.,  81-90;  Rothe,  Dog- 
matik,  III.,  77;  Mede,  Works,  549;  Lange,  Apoc.,  344, 
343,  345.)  Satan  is  seized,  bound,  shut  up,  and  sealed  in 
the  Abyss,  which  now  turns  out  to  be  the  "  non-Christian 
nations,"  or  the  "  hearts  of  the  wicked."  The  church  mil- 
itant is  the  church  triumphant.  The  thrones  of  Judgment 
are  the  ecclesiastical  benches  of  the  unseen  Twelve  Apos- 
tles, ruling  in  the  church  by  their  living  word.  The  1,000 
year's  reign  is  partly  ecclesiastical,  so  far  as  relates  to  the 
church  establishment;  partly  temporal,  so  far  as  relates  to 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FEE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.  351 

the  empire;  partly  spiritual,  so  far  as  relates  to  regenera- 
tion; partly  ceremonial,  so  far  as  relates  to  baptism;  partly 
celestial,  so  far  as  relates  to  the  blessedness  of  the  righteous 
in  heaven.  This 'is  the  "First  Resurrection, — secundum 
anagogen!" 

Such  was  the  theory  of  the  great  Augustine,  by  which 
the  future  Millennium,  the  hope  of  the  martyrs,  to  be  real- 
ized at  the  Second  Coming  of  Christ,  was  u  spiritualized  " 
into  a  present  politico-religious  fact,  and  whose  name  did 
more  to  fasten  it  upon  the  church  for  thirteen  centuries 
than  all  other  names  beside.  (De  Civit.,  Dei.,  XX.,  7-17; 
De.  Doct.  Chris.,  III.,  36.)  Primitive  Chiliasm  could  not 
flourish  under  the  Christianized  purple  of  Caesar  any  more 
than  under  the  Papal  Tiara  and  the  Scarlet.  The  fatal 
blow  to  the  doctrine  of  Poly  carp  and  Irenseus  was  given, 
first  of  all,  by  a  Roman  Pope,  whose  secretary  was  Jerome, 
at  the  close  of  the  fourth  century — Dainasus  I.,  A.D.  380 
—who  condemned  the  martyr  faith  as  a  "  heresy,"  in  the 
person  of  Appolinarius,  the  opposer  of  the  principles  of 
Origen  and  Dionysius,  while  the  advancing  Papacy  began 
to  expound  the  reign  of  the  risen  saints, — "  secundum  ana- 
gogen!"— as  meaning  their  idolatrous  worship,  the  mirac- 
ulous virtue  of  their  bones,  the  presence  of  their  images, 
the  sanctity  of  their  tombs,  and  their  ghostly  intercession. 
Read  the  account,  by  Yillemain,  of  Damasus,  who  won  his 
bishopric  by  "  the  slaughter  of  137  men  in  the  church  of 
Sicinius."  (Yillemain,  Life  of  Gregory,  50.)  Read  the 
account,  by  the  Magdeburg  Centuriators,  of  the  corruption 
of  the  times  succeeding  the  martyr  age.  "  Nothing 
occurred  but  a  change  of  tactics  on  the  part  of  Satan. 
Never,  since  the  days  of  the  Apostles,  was  the  church  more 
barbarously  plagued  by  discussion,  strife,  division,  blas- 
phemies and  scandal.'1  (Cent.  Mag.,  IV.,  cap.  2,  328.) 
The  mystery  of  iniquity  did  already  work.  The  apostasy 


352  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

had  already  begun.  By  union  of  church  and  state,  and 
perversion  of  victory,  the  foundation  was  laid  in  the  empire 
for  a  carnal  caricature  of  the  Millennial  Kingdom  of  Christ 
on  earth  before  the  time.  A  Millennium  sunk  in  the  gross 
materialism  and  idolatry  of  mediaeval,  political  and  military 
Christianity.  By  union  of  church  and  state,  the  martyr 
-doctrine  itself  was  martyred,  not  merely  the  unfortunate 
Jewish  admixtures  cast  away,  but  the  truth  itself  rejected, 
no  council  resisting,  and  vanished  from  view  with  the 
departing  glory  and  last  remnant  of  a  suffering  but  pure 
apostolic  church. 

The  Church  and  State  theory  continued  to  prevail  from 
the  period  immediately  following  Constantine  throughout 
the  whole  time  of  the  apostatizing  Christian  empire 
wounded  by  the  Gothic  sword,  healed  by  the  rise,  progress, 
and  alliance  of  the  emerging  Papacy,  and  the  erection  of 
the  "  Holy  Roman  Empire  "  under  Charlemagne,  onward 
to  the  time  of  Hildebrand  at  the  close  of  the  tenth  century. 
As  might  have  been  expected,  Antichiliasm,  with  its 
Nativity  Date,  prepared  the  panic,  first  of  the  sixth  century, 
•dreaming  that  the  world's  sixth  chiliad  had  expired  accord- 
ing to  the  Septuagint  chronology,  next,  that  of  the  tenth 
•century,  the  1,000  years  supposed  certainly  to  be  then 
finished,  the  fearful  portents  in  Otho's  decaying  empire 
.assisting.  Enemies  were  reconciled,  war  prohibited,  busi- 
ness suspended,  estates  transferred  to  the  Church,  charters 
executed  in  view  of  the  nearness  of  the  end  of  the  world. 
Baldric  and  sword  were  laid  on  the  altar  and  the  "  Truce 
of  God"  proclaimed.  Terror  sat  on  all  countenances  as 
imagination  heard  the  last  trump  and  saw  the  "Great 
White  Throne."  The  theory  was  false.  The  set  time, 
A.D.  1,000,  passed  away.  The  firmament  was  not  rolled 
together  as  a  scroll.  The  graves  remained  unopened. 

From    Hildebrand  to  the  .Reformation,  the  same  Anti- 


BISTORT  OF  THE  PRE  MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.  353 

ehiliastic  theory,  nevertheless,  held  on  its  way.  The  com- 
mencing date,  however,  for  the  millennium,  was  changed  to 
begin,  with  the  victory  of  Constantine,  A.D.  312,  a  suppo- 
sition previously  hinted.  This  new  lease  of  three  centuries 
caused  the  Ottoman  Turk  invading  Christiandom  to  be 
regarded  as  the  Gog  and  Magog  of  Revelation,  and  reserved 
for  the  fourteenth  century  another  Antichiliastic  panic, 
revived  by  the  Flagellants  and  Loquis,  less  extensive,  how- 
ever, than  the  former,  and  followed  by  the  general  opinion 
that  the  1,000  years  were  of  indefinite  duration.  The 
Lateran  doctrine  was  that  the  Papacy  is  the  "  Kingdom  of 
Christ,"  Daniel's  Fifth  Monarchy,  Christ  reigning  on  earth 
in  the  person  of  His  visible  Head  and  Representative  the 
Pope,  the  saints  in  heaven  sharing  His  royalties — a  doctrine 
Cardinal  Manning  has  recently  recommended  for  the  com- 
fort of  heretical  England,  pleadingly  urging  the  wanderer 
to  return.  Dr.  Dollinger  states  it  in  a  mild  way.  "  First 
comes  the  time  of  the  heathen  persecution  whose  temporary 
character  is  expressed  by  the  number  '  three  and  a  half.7 
Then  follows  the  long  period  of  the  victory  of  Christ  and 
the  Church,  during  which  Satan  is  bound,  his  influence  over 
the  powers  of  the  world  broken,  while  the  Church  under 
the  dominion  of  Christ  and  the  saints  in  heaven  flourishes 
and  increases  on  earth.  This  is  the  reign  of  1,000  years. 
The  whole  time  from  the  conquest  of  Christianity  in  the 
Roman  Empire  to  the  end  of  the  present  course  of  the 
world  is  presented  under  two  aspects,  the  Binding  of  Satan, 
and  the  Rule  of  Christ  and  the  saints  in  heaven,  over  the 
Church.  There  is  no  reference  to  a  person  called  Anti- 
christ in  the  Apocalypse,  and  no  place  for  introducing  him." 
(First  Age.  pp.  118,  261.) 


354  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRI8T. 

IX.  THE  PROTESTANT  INTERPRETATION  OF  "  THI 

DOOR  OPENED  FOR  THE  RETURN  OF  OHILIASM. 

Scintillations  of  light,  however,  began  to  gleam  through 
the  Papal  darkness.  The  lapse  of  centuries  had  been 
required  in  order  to  lay  the  historic  basis  for  a  true  inter- 
pretation, in  connection  with  prophecy,  of  the  Apostasy  and 
Antichrist,  and  to  demonstrate  the  early  error  that  confined 
the  1,260  days  to  the  Pagan  persecution,  Babylon  to  the 
Secular  City  of  Rome,  and  Antichrist  to  Nero.  Goth  and 
Vandal  had  indeed  scourged  the  apostatizing  empire. 
Saracens  had  accomplished  their  mission.  Turks  were 
executing  theirs.  Christendom  "  repented  not "  of  its 
crimes  and  idolatries.  (Rev.  9:  20,  21.)  Tho  sacred  page 
had  predicted  things  of  Rome'  not  fulfilled  either  under  the 
sword  of  Constantino  or  Attilla.  Antichrist  had  not  been 
revealed  when  the  "  let  "  was  taken  out  of  the  way.  (2  Thess. 
2:  7.)  Even  Jerome  had  intimated  long  ago  that  Babylon 
was  the  "  Church  "  and  Gregory  had  uttered  some  ominous 
words  about  John  the  Faster  as  "  the  Forerunner  of  Anti- 
christ," which  the  act  of  his  own  successor  Boniface  III.  only 
intensified.  "The  days  of  Antichrist  are  come,"  said  he, 
44  this  proud  bishop  is  like  Lucifer — 0  tempora,  0  mores/" 
(Yillemain,  Life  of  Gregory,  p.  96.)  Francisca,  Brigitta, 
Benedict,  Berthold  and  Branando,  spoke  mysterious  proph- 
ecies, and  looking  seriously  pointed  their  finger  to  Rome. 
(Dollinger,  Prophetic  Spirit,  Christian  Era,  p.  54.)  Convic- 
tions began  to  grow,  as  the  predicted  marks  of  Antichrist 
broke  out  like  plague-spots  on  the  body  of  the  "  Man 
at  Rome,"  not  only  that  the  Seven-hilled  City  was 
the  seat  of  the  Antichrist  about  to  be  revealed  in  all 
his  blaspheming  and  persecuting  deformity,  but  that 
the  Roman  "  Church  "  itself  was  no  less  than  the  "  Baby- 
lon "  of  the  Apocalypse.  "O  wretched  Rome!"  exclaimed 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.  355 

the  Bishop  of  Orleans,  in  the  Council  of  Kheims,  "wal- 
lowing in  vices!  That  Pontiff  seated  on  a  throne,  and 
clad  in  purple  and  gold!  He  is  Antichrist  sitting  in  the 
Temple  of  God,  and  demeaning  himself  as  a  God!"  (Yille- 
main,  Life  of  Gregory,  175,  167.)  Berenger  points  to 
the  Great  City  as  "  Sa.tan's  seat."  The  "  Noble  Lesson  " 
of  the  Waldenses  does  the  same,  and  watches  for  Anti- 
christ's complete  development.  Dark  suspicion  lowers 
like  a  black  cloud  over  the  Tiara  under  which  looked  out 
the  eyes  of  the  "  Yicar  of  the  Son  of  God."  A  Calabrian 
abbott,  supported  by  nearly  all  the  Hebrew  Doctors  in 
their  interpretation  of  the  times  of  Daniel,  reaches  the  con- 
clusion that  the  1,260  prophetic  days  are  years,  and  "  a  flood 
of  light  streamed  through  Joachim's  soul."  The  impres- 
sion was  tremendous.  Three  Popes,  Lucian,  Urban,  Clem- 
ent, charge  him  not  to  divulge  his  views.  Olivi,  Ubertino, 
and  a  hundred  more  of  Italy's  best  sons,  point  to  "  New 
Lucifer,  bedecked  with  gold,  sitting  in  the  Temple  of  God," 
and  perish  on  the  scaffold.  Arnulf  and  Honorius,  John  of 
Salisbury  and  Robert  Grosshead,  John  Milicz,  Matthew  of 
Jannow,  and  many  more,  study  the  prophecies,  accept  the 
view,  and  name  the  Pope  the  "  Man  of  Sin."  The  greatest 
Italian  of  his  day,  Dante,  calls  him  the  "  Modern  Pilate." 
The  Papal  succeeds  to  the  Pagan  persecution.  Waldenses, 
Hussites,  Wickliffites,  lift  up  a  martyr  witness.  "  Hell  of 
the  living,"  mutters  Petrarch,  "it  will  be  a  miracle  if 
Christ  is  not  angry  with  thee  at  last!"  Milicz  exclaims, 
"  Were  we  silent,  the  stones  would  cry  out!"  Machiavelli 
writes,  "  Ruin  or  Rebuke  awaits  the  Church."  Wickliff 
speaks,  "That  proud  priest  at  Rome!  that  open  Anti- 
christ!" Huss  protests  against  "  the  Yicar  of  Judas 
Iscariot!"  is  crowned  with  a  cap  of  painted  devils,  and 
expires  in  a  blaze.  Jerome  of  Prague,  O  man  more  tran- 
quil than  Socrates,  yields  up  his  spirit  to  God,  at  the  stake, 


356  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST 

saying,  "  Into  Thy  hands  I  commit  my  spirit,  Lord  God  of 
truth!"  Savonarola  thunders  and  dies.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  Rome  is  the  Babylon  of  the  Apocalypse.  (Dollinger, 
Pabst  und  Concil.  240-250.  The  Reformation  begins 
to  be  felt,  an  earthquake  of  nations,  the  time  to  "  Rise 
and  measure  the  Temple  of  God."  (Rev.  11: 1.)  The  Apoc- 
alyptic Beast  is  now  seen  to  be  a  symbol  figuring  the 
whole  history  of  the  God-opposed  and  Antichristian  World- 
Power  as  it  passes  through  its  Roman  form,  first  Pagan, 
then  Christian,  then  Papal,  incorporate  in  an  apostate 
Church,  centralizing  itself  in  the  Ruling  Head  of  the 
Seven-hilled  City.  The  "  Man  of  Sin,"  Daniel's  "  Little 
Horn,"  the  Beast  in  its  "  Eighth  "  head,  and  "  Antichrist " 
are  recognized  as  identical,  a  Growth  from  the  bosom  of 
the  Romano-Germanic  Decarchy  ascending  to  the  sover- 
eignty of  Christendom.  The  labors  of  Sehroeckh,  Neander, 
Kohler,  Ullmann,  Dollinger,  and  Yillemain,  have  shown 
that,  centuries  before  the  Reformation,  there  was  an  irre- 
pressible conflict,  yea,  from  the  very  beginning,  a  living 
"  Protest "  in  the  very  bosom  of  the  Apostasy  itself,  until 
God  shook  it  out  and  bid  it  go  forth  under  the  lead  of 
Luther.  The  universal  interpretation  of  the  Reformers 
was  only  that  of  the  purest  Roman  Catholics  for  ages 
previous,  and  that  of  Christ's  martyrs,  that  the  Church  of 
Rome  is  the  "  Babylon  "  of  the  Apocalypse,  the  "  Mother  " 
of  more  like  her,  and  the  Papacy,  the  "  Antichrist "  in  the 
person  of  its  Popes.  It  is  the  sole  doctrine  on  the  subject, 
consecrated  not  only  in  the  theology,  but  also  in  the  symbols 
of  the  Reformation  wherever  the  subject  is  handled;  in 
the  Articles  of  Smalcald,  the  Formulae  of  the  Geneva 
Catechism,  the  Second  Helvetic  Confession,  the  Homilies 
of  the  Church  of  England,  the  Irish  Articles,  and  the 
Westminster  Confession. 

And  what  the  value  of   this  for  Chiliasm?      What  the 


HISTORY  OF  TEE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.  357 

bearing  of    this   mighty   movement?      Much,  every   way, 
infinitely  much.     Ere  even  the  Reformers  were  aware,  the 
back-bone  of  the  Lateran  theory  of  the  millennium   was 
broken.      The  1,000  years  were  thrown  into  the  futivre. 
The  mediaeval  position  was  flanked  and  turned  by  an  act  of 
Providence — the  Reformation — and  the  pretended  Millen- 
nial Kingdom  of  Christ  was  held  to  be  what  Eberhard  had 
called   it,  "  the   Babylonian  Empire  of  Antichrist."     The 
movement    that    restored   the    Apostolic   doctrine   of  the 
Church,  opened  the  door  for  the  restoration  of  the  doctrine 
of  the  pre- millennial  advent  of  Christ.     If  the  Man  of  Sin 
(2Thess.   2:3.)  is  the  Antichrist,  (Uohn  2:22,   4:3;  2 
John  7,)  an  identity  unanimously  held  by  the  whole  primi- 
tive Church,  u Nulli  dubium  est"  (Aug.  De  Civ.  XX.  cap. 
19,)  as  well  as  the  Reformers,  and,  if  this  Antichrist  is  the 
Pope,  the  Head  of  the  Papacy,  figured   by  the  Beast   and 
False    Prophet  (Rev.  13: 1-18);  an  identity  urianimously 
held  by   the   purest  Catholics   of    the    Middle   Age,    the 
Albingenses,    Waldenses,    and   the   whole   Reformation — 
"  communem  Protestantium  sententiam  "   (De  Moor   YI. 
82-117.     Turrettin  IY.  147-177,)   to  be  destroyed  by  the 
Parousia  of  Christ  (2  Thess.  2:8.      Rev.    19:11-21)  and 
which  destruction  comes  before  the  1,000  years,  as  all  inter- 
preters of  every  school   admit,   then  the  demonstration  is 
simply  adamatine  that  the  millennium  is  future  and  depend- 
ent on  the  Second  Advent  for  its  inauguration,  when  Christ 
shall  personally  and  visibly  come  to  destroy  Antichrist  by  a 
sentence  of  judgment   from    His  lips  before  all  nations. 
The  most  ingenious  Prseterism  is  incompetent  to  evade  this 
conclusion  without  first  assailing,  either  covertly  or  openly, 
the  Reformation  doctrine  and  repudiating  its  symbols  on 
this  subject,  and  especially  the  strongest  of  them  all,  the 
Westminster  standards.     (See  Dr.  E.  F.  Hatfield's  prseter- 
istic  assault  on  the  doctrine  of  the  Reformation  and  West- 


358  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

minster  Standards,  Amer.  Presb.  and  Tlieol.  Rev.,  1864,  pp. 
425,  427;  1865,  p.  223.)  Equally  powerless  is  the  Whitbyan 
theory,  to  evade  it,  which  seeks  to  interject  the  1,000  years 
between  the  Judgment  on  Antichrist  and  the  Parousia,  and 
deny  the  literality  of  the  Parousia;  a  violation  of  chronol- 
ogy and  exegesis  alike.  The  Protestant  interpretation  did 
three  things.  (1.)  It  fixed  the  final  Judgment  on  the  Papal 
Antichrist  at  the  Second  Advent.  (2.)  It  made  impossible 
the  interjection  of  the  1,000  years  between  that  Judgment 
and  the  Parousia,  and  so  barred  the  entrance  against  any 
such  theory  as  the  Whitbyan.  (3.)  It  threw  the  1,000  years 
into  the  future,  out  of  medievalism,  and  beyond  the 
Advent.  And,  doing  these  things,  it  opened  the  door  for 
Chiliasm  to  walk  in  and  take  possession  of  the  faith  and 
hope  of  the  Church,  as  in  martyr  days.  It  is  victorious 
over  the  Augustinian  theory,  Prseterism,  and  Pre-Advent 
Futurism.  It  excludes  them.  It  is  the  pivotal  epoch  in 
the  history  of  modern  Chiliasm.  The  doctrine  of  both 
Lutheran  and  Reformed  symbols  must  be  abandoned  before 
a  Post-Millennial  Advent  can  find  place. 

X.       PILETERIST    EFFORT   TO    TURN   THE    PROTESTANT     POSITION. 

Hengstenberg,  softened  towards  the  Papacy,  because  of 
bis  hatred  of  German  Infidelity  and  Rationalism,  has  yet 
joined  with  Rationalists  and  Romanists  in  their  effort  to 
subvert  the  Protestant  application  of  the  Apocalyptic  sym- 
bols, running  to  the  extreme  of  extravagance,  dating  the 
Millennium  from  the  erection  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire, 
under  Charlemagne,  A.D.  800.  (Hengst.  Apoc.,  II.,  p. 
334.)  A  few  more  such  advances  in  date,  and  Praeterism, 
having  reached  the  right  epoch,  will  die  by  self-metamor- 
phosis, and  pass  over  into  Pre-Millennarianisrn.  On  the 
theory  of  Hengstenberg,  Lange  remarks,  with  a  keen 
touch:  "  The  chaining  of  Satan  ill  admits  an  assignment 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.   359 

to  the  Middle  Age  ;    as  if  Macliiavellism,  the  Inquisition, 
Dragonnades,  and  the  like,  belong  to  the  period  of  the 
First  Resurrection."     (Lange,  Apoc.,  p.   352.)     Not  less 
true  than  important  is  Hengstenberg's  honest  admission 
that  "  Chiliasm  is  the  necessary  consequence  of  the  Protest- 
ant view,  for  the  1,000  years'  reign,  according  to  the  Apoc- 
alypse, begins  only  with  the  destruction  of  the  Beast;" 
in  other  words,  the  Protestant  interpretation,  imbedded  in 
the  Westminster  standards,  and  other  symbols,  is  what,  by 
those  standards,  is  declared  to  be  "  by  good  and  necessary 
consequence,  deduced  from   Scripture."     (Hengst.   Apoc., 
II.,  p.  351;  Westminster  Conf.,  L,  §  6.)     Speaking  of  Ben- 
gel,  who  resisted  the  violent  divulsion  of  the  20th  chapter 
of  the  Apocalypse  from  its  relation  to  the  19th,  and  held 
fast  the  Protestant  view,  Hengstenberg  continues:    "The 
theology  of  the  church  was  unable  to  oppose   him.     This 
only  could  have  become  possible,  if  any  one  had  had  the 
courage  to  abandon  the  false  view  (!)  of  the  Beast,  which  had, 
in  a  certain  measure,  obtained  the  sanction  of  the  church. 
Against  those  who  stood  fast  by  this  interpretation,  Ben- 
gel's  reasoning  was  irresistible;  and  hence,  it  came  to  pass 
that,  after  a  feeble  resistance  from  the  orthodox,  Chiliasm 
obtained  an  almost  universal  diffusion  tkrougliihe  churcli" 
(Hengst.  Apoc.,  II.,  p.  351.)     That  is,  the  church  remained 
true  to  its  Protestantism.     Moses  Stuart,  inoculating  the 
American  ministry  with  an  anti-Protestant  Prseterism,  and 
using  this  singular  method  to  countervail  the  mere  chrono- 
logical error  of  Mr.   Miller's  reckoning   (1843),  saw   the 
same  lion  in  his  way.      "It  is   the  result,"  says  he,  "of 
applying   Eev.    XIIL-XYII.    to    the    Papacy    that    the 
1,000  years  are  considered  as  still  future."      (Apoc.   II., 
463.)      Davidson,  in  the  interest  of  the   same  Praeterist 
theory,  as  do  all  Praeterists,  assails  the  Reformation  view. 
"Little   do   we   believe   that   the  Papacy  is  to  be  found 


360  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

in  the  Little  Horn  of  Daniel's  Beast,  in  the  Man  of  Sin 
predicted  by  Paul,  or  the  Antichrist  of  John."  (Introd. 
N.  T.,  III.,  623.)  Bengel,  however,  holding  the  Beast 
to  be  the  Papacy,  affirms:  "The  1,000  years  do  not 
run  a  step  simultaneously  with  the  times  of  the  Beast, 
nor  do  they  precede  those  times,  but  totally  follow 
them."  (Gnomon,  V.,  365.)  So  Mede:  "I  have  demon- 
strated that  the  1,000  years  follow  the  times  of  the  Beast 
and  False  Prophet,  and  consequently  the  times  of  Anti- 
christ, which  those  who  oppose  the  Chilians  have  found  to 
be  so  necessary  as  to  force  them  to  deny  the  Apocalypse  ; 
nor  was  it  ever  admitted,  until  they  had  found  some  com- 
modious interpretation  of  the  1,000  years."  (Mede,  "Works, 
p.  602.)  "  The  contemporaneousness  of  the  Beast  and  the 
1,000  years'  kingdom,  or  even  the  contemporaneousness  of 
the  existence  and  dominion  of  the  Beast  and  the  imprison- 
ment of  Satan,  is  a  monstrous  thought — ein  Ungedanlce" 
(Koch,  Das  tausend.,  Reich,  197.)  Nothing  can  be  more  com- 
pletely destructive  of  the  "  Recapitulation  "  theory,  for  Anti- 
christ survives  till  Christ  comes.  Nothing  can  be  more 
destructive  of  Praeterism,  or  pre-ad vent  Futurism.  The  Prot- 
estant interpretation  being  true,  the  Pre-Millennial  Advent 
of  Christ  is  a  necessity,  logical,  historical,  exegetical,  which 
no  "  New  Hypothesis "  of  Whitby,  and  no  exegesis  of 
"  Parousia,"  as  a  coming  at  death,  or  a  spiritual  presence, 
or  of  "  Anastasis  "  as  a  church  establish  men  t,  or  spiritual 
revival,  or  regeneration,  or  conversion  of  the  world,  or  soul- 
ascension  to  heaven,  can  explain  away.  And  this  Protestant 
interpretation,  so  thoroughly  grounded  in  the  massive  dem- 
onstrations of  the  Reformed  Theology,  must  ever  be  held 
fast,  whatever  the  capacity  of  Christendom  to  repeat  the 
Infidelity  of  the  French  Revolution,  the  English  Deism, 
the  German  Rationalism,  or  however  gigantic  the  strides 
of  anti-Christian  science,  or  political  internationalism,  or 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.    361 

the  secularism  of  our  churches,  or  the  lawlessness  of  the 
age,  or  the  godless  legislation  of  society.  Evermore  the 
apostate  "Antichrist"  of  the  Scriptures  is  not  only  the 
Denier  but  the  Confessor  of  the  truth,  in  mask, "  deceiving,'* 
and  in  whom  the  "Deceiver  "  is  incorporate;  exalted  in  the 
Temple  of  God,  "above  all  that  is  called  God  or  wor- 
shipped" seated  high  in  His  chair  with  the  Wafer 
worshipped  before  him,  at  the  altar,  himself  "  above"  it  all. 
He  is  no  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  nor  Mahomet,  nor  Napoleon, 
nor  Coryphreus  of  the  Revolutionary  Commune,  nor  openly 
avowed  Infidel,  as  the  Papists,  Salvador,  the  Rationalists, 
Spinoza,  and  "  Daniel  Deronda  "  would  picture,  but  the 
Pope  himself,  who  may  yet,  indeed,  ally  himself,  in  coming 
days,  with  Internationalism  and  a  false  Messiah,  and  bloom 
into  something  more  unmasked.  He  is  the  Papal  Anti- 
christ. "  On  this  principle,"  says  Warburton,  "  was  the 
Reformation  begun  and  carried  out.  On  this  the  Reform- 
ers had  not  only  the  right,  but  lay  under  the  obligation  of 
a  command  to  come  out  of  the  spiritual  Babylon."  (Works, 
V.,  488.)  So,  even  Canon  Wordsworth,  in  his  unanswerable 
demonstration  (Antichiliast,  as  he  inconsistently  is), 
appended  to  his  commentary  on  the  Apocalypse,  showing 
that  "  Antichrist "  is  not  an  openly  avowed  infidel,  but  a. 
professing  Christian,  a  very  Judas  and  Son  of  Perdition. 
(Apoc.,  375-396.)  Powerfully  did  Professor  Bush  reply  to 
Moses  Stuart  and  all  Praeterists,  to  the  same  effect.  "It  is," 
says  he,  "  giving  the  Romanists  every  advantage  they  could 
desire.  You  help  them  plant  themselves  in  a  position  from 
which  it  is  impossible  to  dislodge  them.  On  your  princi- 
ple, the  glorious  Reformation  could  never  have  taken 
place."  (Hierophant,  270.)  Antichiliasts,  who  profess  to 
hold  the  doctrine  of  the  Westminster  Standards,  are 
powerless  to  defend  themselves  against  themselves;  and, 
not  holding  the  doctrine,  are  equally  powerless  to  defend 


362  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

themselves  against  the  Standards.  Protestant  Prseterism, 
and  pre-advent  Futurism,  are  simply  Anti-Protestant  Protest- 
antism. 

XI.    ATTITUDE    OF    THE    REFORMERS.       THE    DOCTRINAL    SYMBOLS 
OF    THE   REFORMATION. 

While  preparing  the  way,  however,  the  Reformers  had  no 
time  to  critically  instaurate  a  Biblical  Chiliasm.  Their  great 
work  lay  in  another  direction,  as  the  history  of  their  times 
abundantly  proves.  Reasons  existed  in  their  warfare  against 
Rome's  externalism  and  their  devotion  to  the  restatement 
and  defence  of  the  great  doctrines  of  grace,  the  re-organi- 
zation of  the  Church,  and  the  repulsion  of  Papal  claims, 
why  the  development  of  eschatology  should  be  reserved  to 
generations  following.  (Dorner  Hist.  Prot.  Theol.  II,  168- 
171.  Princip.  Cunningham,  Hist.  Theol.  1, 191.  Auberlen, 
Daniel,  p.  376.  Rinck  Zeichen,  p.  326.  Luthardt  Lehre,  v. 
•d.  Letz.  Dingen,  7.)  Not  a  few  remained  still  hampered  with 
the  Augustinian  reckoning.  They  deemed  the  end  of  the 
world  near,  and  looked  for  the  speedy  Advent  of  Christ  to 
destroy  the  Papal  Antichrist  and  introduce  the  state  of 
Eternal  Glory.  They  thought  the  1,000  years  were  over, 
and  Satan  "  loosed  a  little  season."  What  misled  them  was 
due  to  the  lingering  "  Recapitulation  "  theory,  which  iden- 
tified Revelation  chapters  XX  and  XII,  confounding  also 
Armageddon  at  the  beginning  of  the  1,000  years  with  the 
expedition  of  Gog  and  Magog  at  the  end  of  those  years, 
accounting  Gog  and  Ma^og  to  be  the  Ottoman  Turk. 
"  From  the  Pope,  the  Turk  and  the  Devil,  Good  Lord 
deliver  us"  was  their  liturgy.  Noble  souls!  Brave 
soldiers  of  Jesus!  Besides,  the  Reformation  had  to  resist  a 
false  Chiliasm  like  that  against  which  the  true  Chiliasm 
protested  in  primitive  times — a  secular  kingdom  of  the 
saints,  set  up  by  fire  and  sword,  and  before  the  resurrection 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FEE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE,   363 

— a  purely  later  Jewish  conception.  Such  was  the  wild 
raving  of  Thomas  Miinzer  and  the  Anabaptists,  the  Proph- 
ets of  Zwickau,  the  French  Prophets  of  Dauphiny,  and 
afterwards  of  the  Fifth  Monarchy  men  in  the  time  of 
Cromwell,  all  falsely  claiming  support  from  the  Apocalypse. 
Calvin,  like  other  Reformers,  attacked  at  its  Jewish  root  the 
vain  pretension  of  the  false  "  Millennarii,"  both  ancient 
and  modern,  and  only  so-called  because  of  the  1,000 
years,  in  the  third  Book  of  his  Institutes,  exploding  the 
error  that  the  whole  glorious  royalty  of  Christ,  and  ever- 
lasting blessedness  of  the  Church,  are  limited  to  the  1,000 
years;  still  hampered,  however,  in  his  reply  by  the  thought 
that  the  1,000  years  dated  from  Constantine.  (Inst.  III. 
XXV.  §  5.)  Here,  too,  belongs  the  strong  protest  of  the 
Second  Helvetic  Confession,  Chapter  XI.  and  the  celebrated 
XYIIth  Article  of  the  Augsburg  Confession,  so  "  ill  under- 
stood "  by  many  who  assume  it  to  be  aimed  against  a  Pre- 
Millennial  Advent  of  Christ,  because  aimed  against  a  false 
Chiliasm.  On  the  contrary,  it  only  condemns  those  who 
scatter  "Judaioat  opiniones"  and  Melancthon's  comment 
in  the  "  Variatio  "  expressly  inserts  "  Anabaptistas  "  as 
those  to  whom  the  article  referred.  (Prolog.  Var.  Hase  Lib. 
Symbol,  p.  XVIII.  Walch.  Introd.  Luth.  Symb.  p.  314.) 
To  the  same  parties  are  the  "  Judaica  somnia"  condemned 
in  the  Helvetic  Confession,  attributed,  as  also  in  the  Beigic 
Confession.  (Niemeyer,  Coll.  Conf.  pp.  486,  387.)  The 
earliest  dogmatic  systems  of  the  Continental  Reformers,  for 
the  reasons  before  stated,  and  not  seeing  the  reconciliation 
between  the  later  eschatology  of  John  and  that  of  the 
earlier  Scriptures,  followed  the  representation  of  the  earlier, 
as  is  done  in  the  standards  of  the  Reformation,  grouping  the 
whole  mass  of  the  "  Last  Things  "  around  the  Parousia,  with- 
out regard  to  the  1,000  years,  "sine  temporis intervallo"  and 
looked  only  for  Eternal  Glory  to  follow  the  judgment  upon 


364  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

Satan's  Kingdom.  They  were,  not  yet,  wholly  delivered 
from  the  contradiction  that  makes  the  millennial  reign  of 
Christ  contemporate  with  the  dominion  of  the  Beast  and 
False  Prophet.  While  this  was  true,  it  was  none  the  less 
true  that  Protestantism  had  opened  the  door  to  genuine 
Chiliasm.  The  Augsburg  Confession,  so  far  from  being  a 
polemic  against  it,  only  favored  it,  for,  as  Lange  remarks, 
"  It  negatives  the  assumption  of  a  millennium  before  the 
Parousia,"  as  well  as  repels  the  idea  of  a  "  secular  King- 
dom." Nothing  is  clearer  than  that  the  Reformers,  when 
drawing  up  the  Augsburg  Article,  repudiated  the  mediaeval 
view  and  "  opened  the  way,"  as  Ebrard  says,  "  for  a  future 
correct  view."  (Lange  Apoc.  p.  440.)  "  If,  according  to 
that  Article,"  says  Steffann,  "the  pious  shall  have  no  earthly 
Kingdom  before  the  resurrection,  then  is  not  only  Luther's, 
which  dated  the  1,000  years  from  Constantino,  but  every 
other  view,  condemned,  which  locates  the  millennium  either 
in  the  past  or  in  the  present.  The  roles  are  changed.  Not 
those  who,  upon  the  basis  of  that  Article  reject  the  future 
millennial  Kingdom,  but  we,  who,  according  to  its  permis- 
sion, teach  it,  stand  upon  the  ground  of  the  Augsburg  Con- 
fession." (Steff.  Das  Ende.  p.  336.)  So  Koch.  «  Against 
the  Anabaptist  conception  of  the  1,000  years'  Kingdom, 
and  only  against  that,  was  the  Article  of  the  Augsburg 
Confession  directed,  which  rejected  the  later  Jewish  opinion." 
(Koch.  Das  tausend.  Reich,  p.  27.)  So  Hebart.  "  Only 
those  opinions  were  assailed  in  the  Augsburg  Article,  as 
they  were  spread  abroad  in  the  times  of  the  .Reformation, 
the  carnal  representations  of  the  Anabaptists,  and  rightly 
rejected  because  they  have  nothing  in  the  Scripture  for 
them,  but  everything  against  them."  (Fiirden  Chiliasmus, 
p.  17.)  Rinck  shows  that  both  the  Helvetic  and  Augs- 
burg Confessions  intended  nothing  more  than  a  rebuke  of 
the  "  demonic  caricature  of  the  hope  of  the  oldest  church 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.   365 

fathers."  (Kinck,  Zeichen,  p.  326.)  No  greater  injustice 
can  be  done  than  to  draw  equation  lines  between  the  true 
and  the  false  Chiliasm,  the  difference  between  which  is 
measured  by  the  difference  between  John  and  the  Ebionites, 
and  then,  confounding  both  under  the  one  vague  title  " Mil- 
lennarianism"  represent  the  true  as  equally  condemned 
with  the  false,  because  the  advocates  of  the  latter  assumed 
the  name  "Millennarii"  It  is  the  doctrine  of  the  false 
Chiliasts  that  is  condemned  in  the  XXXVI  Article  of 
the  Belgic,  and  in  Edward  VI. 's  Confession,  under  the 
title  " Millennarii"  men  who  sought  to  revive  (revocare) 
the  Jewish  ideas;  and  only  this.  (Niemeyer  387,  600.) 
We  have,  therefore,  to  dismiss  the  erroneous  impression 
made  in  various  Histories  of  Doctrine  which  seems  to  teach 
when  using  the  vague  word  "  millennarianism,"  that  the 
Reformed  Symbols  condemned  the  doctrine  of  the  Pre- 
Millennial  Advent  of  Christ.  (Shedd.  Hist.  Chr.  Doct.  II. 
396,  397.  Hagenbach  Hist.  Doct.  II.  351.)  What  we  do 
find  is  the  condemnation  of  a  false  Chiliasm,  everywhere, 
not  a  syllable  against  the  true,  the  exclusion  of  Prseterism 
and  pre-advent  Futurism,  and  the  solid  basis  laid  for  the 
necessary  and  irresistible  conclusion  of  the  Pre-Millennial 
Advent,  a  dogmatic  position  that  not  only  sustains,  but 
requires,  the  literal  exegesis  of  the  "  First  Resurrection." 
Among  the  eminent  men,  who  on  the  Continent,  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  maintained  pre-millennarian 
views,  were  Pi  sea  tor  and  Tycho  Brahe. 

Among  the  English  Reformers,  true  Chiliasm  made  its 
re-appearance.  In  the  bloom  time  of  the  Reformation  in 
England,  the  time  of  Cranmer  and  Hooper,  Latimer  and 
Ridley,  the  time  when  Bucer  taught  at  Cambridge  and 
Peter  Martyr  at  Oxford,  the  martyr  faith  once  more  lifted 
its  head.  Peter  Martyr,  discriminating  between  the  true 
and  false  Chiliasm,  says  of  the  early  advocates  of  the 


366  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

former,  "  I  class  them  not  with  Cerinthus.  No  one  of  the 
Fathers  I  have  named — Papias,  Irenseus,  Justin,  Yictorinus, 
Tertullian,  Lactantius — followed  the  errors  we  have  nar- 
rated. (Loci.  Com.  p.  739.)  He  repeats  Augustine's  former 
opinion  that  a  visible  Kingdom  of  Christ  on  earth  with 
spiritual  delights  from  Christ's  presence  after  the  Second 
Advent  is  unobjectionable.  The  Anglican  Catechism  drawn 
up  by  Cranmer  and  sanctioned  by  Edward,  A.D.  1553,  and 
used  in  the  examination  of  candidates  for  Holy  Orders, 
clearly  shows  how  completely  the  mediaeval  view  was 
repudiated.  Expounding  the  second  petition  in  the  Lord's 
Prayer  it  says,  "  We  ask  that  His  Kingdom  may  come,  for 
that,  as  yet,  we  do  not  see  all  things  put  under  Jesus  Christ. 
"We  see,  not  yet,  how  the  Stone  cut  out  of  the  mountain 
without  human  labor,  and  which  broke  in  pieces  and 
reduced  to  nothing  the  Image  described  by  Daniel,  or  how 
the  Kock,  which  is  Christ,  possesses  and  obtains  the  empire 
of  the  whole  world  granted  by  the  Father.  As  yet,  Antichrist 
is  not  slain.  Whence  it  is  we  desire  and  pray  that,  at 
length,  it  may  come  to  pass  and  be  fulfilled;  arid  that 
Christ  alone  may  reign  with  His  saints  according  to  the 
divine  promises  and  live  and  have  dominion  in  the  world, 
according  to  the  decrees  of  the  Holy  Gospel,  and  not 
according  to  the  traditions  and  laws  of  men  and  the  will  of 
the  tyrants  of  the  world."  Whereupon  the  catechist  re- 
sponds, "God  grant  that  His  Kingdom  may  come  quickly!" 
Such  was  the  common  faith  of  the  Anglican  Church, 
the  1,000  years  having  been  thrown  into  the  future,  by  the 
application  of  the  Apocalyptic  symbols  to  the  Papacy  whose 
final  Judgment  should  come  with  the  Second  Advent.  It 

o 

was  with  such  a  faith  as  this,  Latimer  said,  u  Let  us  cry 
unto  Him,  day  and  night,  Most  Merciful  Father,  Thy 
Kingdom  come.  Antichrist  is  known  throughout  all  the 
world.  The  man  or  woman  who  can  say  with  faithful  heart 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.   367 

these  words,  Thy  Kingdom  come,  desireth  in  very  deed 
that  God  will  come  to  judgment,  and  amend  all  things  in 
this  world,  and  pull  down  Satan,  that  old  serpent,  under  our 
feet,"  So  spoke  Ridley  and  Bradford.  So  thought  the 
Anglican  Protestant  Church. 

XII.       SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. THE  WESTMINSTER  DIVINES  AND 

STANDARDS. 

Splendid  was  the  advance  of  Chiliasm  in  the  17th  cen- 
tury. Men  distinguished  for  learning  and  piety,  whose 
lustre  adorned  the  prominent  universities,  and  whose 
eloquence  charmed  all  hearts,  proclaimed  the  Pre-Millen- 
nial  return  of  Christ.  Alsted  and  Launseus  ;  Lange  and 
Hebart,  Brenniusand  Alting;  Poiret,  Lavater  and  Serarius; 
some  laboring  on  one  point,  some  on  another,  all  awoke 
fresh  interest  in  the  theme.  Spener,  Petersen,  Francke, 
Thomasius,  and  the  Pietists,  of  Germany,  from  whose 
impulse  came  the  renowned  Berlerberg  Bible,  all  leaning 
on  the  Apocalypse,  fed  the  flame  and  sang  the  "  Hope  of 
Better  Times."  Scotland,  abandoning  all  hope  of  a  reformed 
world,  until  Christ  should  come,  produced  many  who  fol- 
lowed in  the  faith  of  her  great  leader,  John  Knox.  England 
became  vocal  with  pre-millennial  melodies.  Burton,  the 
translator  of  Alsted,  Archer  of  London,  Hake  well,  Burnett, 
Mede,  "  who  saw  while  others  were  getting  their  eyes 
open;"  Worthington,  Homes  and  Carlyle,  stood  forth  as 
defenders  of  the  martyr  faith.  Milton,  soaring  as  none 
other  could  soar,  broke  forth  at  the  close  of  his  Tractate  on 
the  "  Reformation  in  England"  into  a  Chiliastic  apostrophe 
to  Christ,  "  the  eternal  and  shortly-expected  King,"  that 
thrills,  to  this  hour,  the  nerves  of  every  one  who  reads  it. 
Differing  in  several  respects,  but  united  on  the  two  main 
points,  viz.:  the  pre-millennial  advent  arid  literal  "  First 
Resurrection,"  a  large  number  of  the  Westminster 


308  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST 

•divines,  among  whom  was  the  majority  of  the  more  prom- 
inent and  chief,  publicly  confessed  and  preached  the  Chili- 
astic  doctrine.  The  venerable  Prolocutor,  Dr.  Twisse,  of 
signal  learning,  and  whose  name  some  misguided  or  preju- 
diced men  have  sought  to  traduce,  as  Eusebius,  and 
•others,  did  those  of  Papias  and  Joachim,  was  an  ardent 
disciple  of  Mede.  Marshall,  Palmer,  and  Caryl,  Langley 
and  Gataker,  Greenhill  and  Burroughs,  "the  morning  and 
evening  stars  of  Stepney,"  Goodwin,  Ash,  Bridge,  Nye, 
Selden  and  Ainsworth,  men  of  the  first  learning  and 
worth,  preached  it  and  wrote  it.  Beautiful  is  the  language 
of  Peter  Sterry,  one  of  their  number,  a  man  illustriously 
maligned  by  his  enemies.  "  Like  a  piece  of  rich  coin, 
it  hath  long  been  buried  in  the  earth,  but  of  late  days 
digged  up  again.  It  begins  to  grow  brighter  with  hand- 
ling, and  to  pass  current  with  great  numbers  of  saints, 
and  learned  men  of  great  authority.  As  the  same  star,  at 
several  seasons,  is  the  evening  star,  setting  immediately 
after  the  sun,  and  the  morning  star  shining  immediately 
before  it,  so  was  this  truth  the  evening  star  to  the  first  com- 
ing of  Christ,  and  giving  of  the  Spirit,  setting  together 
with  the  glory  of  that  day,  in  a  night  of  Anti-Christianism. 
Now,  it  appears  again,  in  our  times,  as  a  morning  star  to 
that  blessed  day  of  the  second  effusion  of  the  Spirit,  arid 
Second  Appearing  of  our  Saviour,  in  the  glory  of  the 
Father."  (Dedication  to  Homes,  Res.  Rev.,  p.  4.) 

Principal  Baillie,  an  opposer  of  the  doctrine,  writes  from 
the  Assembly  to  Scotland,  bemoaning  the  predominant 
Chiliasm  of  its  greatest  members,  having  grossly  misrepre- 
sented their  .true  doctrine,  and  having  prepared  a  "  Dissua- 
sive "  for  the  times.  "  Most  of  the  chief  divines  here,"  he 
murmured,  "not  only  Independents,  but  others,  as  Twisse, 
Marshall,  Palmer,  and  many  more,  are  express  Chiliasts." 
(Letters,  No.  117,  Vol.  II,  p.  313.)  Masson,  in  his  life  of 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE. 


Milton,  repeats  the  statement.  (Yols.  Ill,  15,  Y,  16.)  Light- 
foot,  Anti-chiliast,  confirms  it,  by  saying  of  the  doctrine:  "  It 
hath  got  the  deepest  root,  and  the  highest  seat,  in  the  hearts 
of  very  many  in  these  times."  (Works  YI,  168.)  Yit- 
ringa  says:  "  Yery  many  erudite  men,  far  removed  from  a 
carnal  Chiliasm,  —  a  carnali  Chiliasmo  alienos  —  gave  suf- 
frage to  this  view."  (Isa.  47:  21.)  Principal  Cunningham,  of 
Scotland,  has  affirmed  that  they  who  entertained  it  were  "  of 
the  soundest  among  the  Westminster  divines."  (Sermons, 
Pref.  XXIII.)  They  were  not  "  Brownists,"  as  Archbishop 
Laud  perversely  characterized  that  body,  but,  save  ten  Inde- 
pendents, seven  Scotch  Commissioners,  and  two  or  three 
French  divines,  were  graduates  ot  Oxford  and  Cambridge, 
in  Episcopal  orders,  voting  in  favor  of  Presbyterian  govern- 
ment, Puritan  discipline,  and  high  Calvinism.  They  were 
assailed  by  such  writers  as  Baillie,  Ross,  Paget  and  Featly, 
who  first  falsely  charged  upon  them  the  errors  of  Cerinthus, 
the  Jews,  Anabaptists,  and  Fifth  Monarchy  men,  condemn- 
ing all  to  the  same  category,  and  then  denounced  their  doc- 
trine as  a  "  swinish  creed,"  a  specimen  of  the  temper  of 
the  times,  and  of  some  of  the  assailants.  Baillie's  u  Dis- 
suasive" was  answered  and  demolished  by  Homes,  and  as 
to  Lightfoot's  argument  against  Chiliasm,  in  his  "  Binding 
of  the  Dragon,"  the  strongest  that  could  be  made,  and  in 
respectable  manner,  it  is  simply  based  upon  the  "  Recapit- 
ulation" theory  and  Constantinian  date  of  the  Millennium, 
and  so  weak  that  it  is  its  own  antidote.  The  Westminster 
Assembly  repudiated  false  Chiliasm  with  the  disdain  of 
silence,  and  yet  remained  true  to  the  Protestant  Demonstra- 
tion of  the  Papal  Antichrist,  so  abundant  in  the  pages  of 
the  Reformed  Theology.  (De  Moor,  YI,  93,  147,  153^-155; 
Turrettin,  IY,  147-177.)  The  proof-texts  of  its  symbol 
are  no  part  of  the  Church-Constitution,  but  the  symbol 
itself  is  the  established  interpretation  of  those  texts  on 
24 


370  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

which 'it  was  founded  with  such  care,  as  is  clear  to  any  one 
who  turns  to  the  journals  of  Light-foot  and  Gillespie,  and 
to  the  Assembly's  minutes,  edited  by  Mitchell.  They  are 
official  expositions  of  those  texts,  God's  word  being,  accord- 
ing to  the  Reformation  formula,  "  Norrna  Normans,  the 
Kale  Ruling,"  and  the  Standard,  "  Norma  Norm ata,  the 
Rule  Ruled."  Authoritative  for  all  who  accept  them,  these 
Standards  compel  the  conclusion  of  a  pre-millennial  advent 
by  irresistible  necessity.  The  First  Apocalyptic  Beast, 
XIII,  1-10,  with  his  "  Armour-bearer"  the  Second  Beast 
who  is  the  False  Prophet,  XIII,  11-18;  XVI,  13;  XIX.  20r 
is  identified  by  those  Standards  with  the  great  politico- 
religious  anti-Christian  Papacy  robed  in  Pagan  Imperial- 
ism, its  Ruling  Head  being  the  "  Man  of  Sin,"  the  "Anti- 
christ," which  some  of  the  Fathers,  before  Church  and 
State  union  was  known,  or  Papacy  developed,  made  mean 
the  Ruling  Head  of  Rome  Pagan,  but  which  the  Reforma- 
tion and  the  Westminster,  like  other  reformed  symbols, 
have  defined  to  be  the  Ruling  Head  of  Rome  Papal,  sprung 
from  the  Apostasy,  and  whose  final  destruction  occurs  at 
the  Parousia.  The  Dragon,  who  took  on  the  likeness  of  the 
Empire,  is  incorporate  in  the  Roman  Imperialism;  Impe- 
rialism incorporate  in  the  Papacy;  the  Papacy  incorporate 
in  the  Pope.  The  Parousia  is  everywhere  represented  a& 
the  Yisible  Personal  Coming  of  Christ  to  Judgment,  at  the 
"  Last  Day,"  or  "  Judgment  Day,"  leaving  the  duration  of 
that  day  undetermined,  while  including  in  its  scenes  the 
events  pictured  by  John  at  both  ends  of  the  1,000  years,  so 
proving  conclusively  that  the  1,000  years  themselves  are 
implicate  in  the  representation.  None  in  the  Westminster 
Assembly  ever  took  ground  that  the  1,000  years  are  not  a 
measure  of  time.  The  vast  majority  dated  their  commence- 
ment, not  from  Constantine,  but  from  the  Judgment  on  the 
Papal  Antichrist,  so  repudiating  the  idea  that  Armageddon 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.   371 

and  the  overthrow  of  Gog  are  identical,  and  refusing  to  vio- 
lently rend  the  indissolvable  temporal  sequence  of  Rev. 
chapter  20th  upon  chapter  19th,  or  to  identify  the  "  Parou- 
sia,"  with  the  "  End,"  in  1  Cor.  15:  24.  Clearly,  they  refused 
to  arbitrarily  interject  the  1,000  years  between  the  Judg- 
ment on  Antichrist  and  the  Parousia,  but  made  both  these 
events  conternporate.  They  thus  threw  the  1,000  years  into 
the  future,  beyond  the  Second  Advent ;  in  other  words, 
made  the  Parousia  pre-millennarian.  And  because  the 
reign  of  Antichrist  can  not  contemporate  with  the  Millennial 
triumph  over  Antichrist, — the  1,260  years  with  the  1,000 
years — but  is  the  core  of  the  Kingdom  of  Satan  and  Sin, 
they  expounded  the  Second  Petition  of  the  Lord's  Prayer 
as  invoking,  among  other  things,  the  fulness  of  the  Gen- 
tiles, the  conversion  of  the  Jews,  the  overthrow  of  Satan's 
Kingdom,  so  k'  hastening  the  time  of  Christ's  Second  Com- 
ing and  our  reigning  with  Him  forever."  Emphasis  was 
laid  on  this  in  the  Scotch  Directory  for  Public  Prayer.  The 
classic  passage  in  Acts  3: 19-21,  pre-intimating  the  conver- 
sion of  the  Jews,  miraculous,  like  that  of  the  healed  cripple, 
leaping  and  praising  God  and  ascending  to  the  Holy  Tem- 
ple, they  referred  to  the  time  of  the  Second  Advent,  the- 
Last,  the  Judgment  Day,  the  "  times  of  refreshing  from  the 
presence  of  the  Lord,"  and  paralleled  it  with  the  "  Rest  "' 
that  comes  to  the  troubled  Church,  "  when  the  Lord  Jesus- 
shall  be  revealed  from  heaven."  (2  Thess.  1:7.)  And 
because  the  1,000  years  come  after,  and  not  before,  the 
Judgment  on  Antichrist,  and  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the- 
hour  of  Christ's  coming  is  unknown  to  men,  they  declared1 
it  to  be  the  duty  of  all  men,  now  to  "  shake  off  all  carnal 
security,"  and  be  always  watchful,  because  they  know  not 
at  what  hour  the  Lord  will  come;  and  be  ever  prepared  to 
say:  Come.  Lord  Jesus,  come  quickly."  Pre-millennarians 
could  ask  no  more.  (Conf.  of  Faith,  XXIII,  §  IV, 


372  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

texts,  2  Thess.  2:4;  Eev.  13:  15-18;  XXY,  §§  IY,  Y, 
VI,  texts,  Horn.  11:  3,  4;  Kev.  12:  6,  14;  Eev.  18:  2; 
Eom.  11:  18-22;  2  Thess.  2:  3,  4,  T,  8;  XXXII,  §  II, 
texts,  1  Thess,  4,  IT;  XXIII,  §§  II,  III,  texts,  2  Thess. 
1:  5,  6,  7,  8,  9;  Acts  3: 19.)  Thirty-five  times  2  Thess.  is 
appealed  to,  fifty-seven  times  the  Apocalypse,  for  various 
purposes,  and,  wherever  the  above  passages  occur,  the 
Parousia  is  the  Personal  Advent,  at  the  "  Last  Day,"  Anti- 
christ is  to  be  destroyed  by  that  Parousia,  and  that  Anti- 
christ is  "the  Beast  and  the  False  Prophet,"  who  perish 
before  the  1,000  years  begin.  (Eev.  19:  20.)  Zenith  is  not 
more  opposed  to  .Nadir,  than  is  the  Westminster  symbol  to 
the  Eationalistic  Prseterism  which  tortures  the  Apocalypse 
into  a  mere  epic  upon  the  Destruction  of  Judaism  and 
Paganism,  the  Temple  and  the  Pantheon,  or  Matthew, 
chapter  24th,  into  the  mere  sack  of  Jerusalem,  or  Hebrews 
10:  37,  into  a  prophecy  of  the  approach  of  Titus  and  the 
Eoman  legions!  In  the  "Westminster  Standard  Eome  is 
Papal,  not  Pagan;  Antichrist  is  the  Pope,  not  Nero;  the 
Parousia  is  personal  and  visible,  not  merely  spiritual  and 
providential;  the  breath  of  the  Lord's  mouth  that  slays 
"that  Wicked"  is  judicial,  not  evangelical;  Antichris- 
tianity  is  destroyed,  not  converted  by  a  revival;  the  Dragon 
is  the  Devil,  not  Paganism;  the  "  tribes  of  the  earth  "  that 
mourn  when  Christ  comes  are  not  merely  the  Jews,  but  all 
nations;  the  "earth"  is  not  simply  Palestine,  but  the 
planet;  and  the  "clouds,"  on  which  the  Son  of  Man  comes 
to  the  Judgment,  are  not  "  poetic  drapery  borrowed  from 
judicial  imagery,"  but  atmospheric  thunder-heads.  "  This 
generation,"  that  passes  not  away,  is  not  merely  the  Jews 
contemporaneous  with  the  Apostles,  but  the  continuous 
Jewish  race;  "all  these  things "  relate  not  merely  to  the 
overthrow  of  Jerusalem,  A.D.  70,  but  to  the  whole  tribula- 
tion, extending  through  the  present  age;  and  "shall  be  ful- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.    373 

filled  "  does  not  merely  mean  "  completed,"  but  also  "  shall 
begin  to  be  accomplished," — the  tribulation  culminating  at 
the  Second  Advent.  (See  the  eloquent  vindication  of  this 
"  double  sense  "  of  prophecy,  by  Dr.  A.  T.  McGill,  "  Evi- 
dences of  Christianity;"  Univ.  of  Virginia,  132,  133; 
Carter,  K  Y.,  1852,  and  by  Dr.  R  S.  Candlish,  Life  in  a 
Eisen  Saviour,  388,  389.)  The  Domitianic  date  of  the 
Apocalypse  and  the  Year-Day  theory,  are  interwoven 
through  the  Standards  of  Westminster,  which  are  the 
strongest  pre-millennial  symbol  ever  made,  buttressed  by 
every  proposition  needed  for  that  conclusion.  Expelling 
Prseterism,  they  foreclose  the  door  against  Whitbyism,  suf- 
fering nothing  to  dissolve  the  established  temporal  sequence 
of  the  20th  chapter  upon  the  19th,or  the  succession  of  the  1,000 
years'  reign  to  the  Judgment  on  Antichrist,  which  they 
declare  occurs  at  the  Parousia.  They  are  pre-millennial  to 
the  core.  The  pre-millennial  advent  is  no  merely  allowable 
interpretation,  to  be  graciously  tolerated  among  "  heretics," 
by  ostensibly  orthodox  men,  who  cut  the  Standards  down 
while  professing  to  defend  them,  but  is  an  imposed  corol- 
lary, implicate  in  the  very  warp  and  woof  of  the  symbol 
itself,  an  immediate  conclusion  without  a  middle  term,  the 
rejection  of  which  is  an  open  abandonment  of  the  Reformed 
ground,  and  open  assault  upon  the  Westminster  Confes- 
sion. As  in  the  earlier  Scriptures,  however,  so  here  in 
these  Standards,  the  "  Last  things  "  are  crowded  together 
in  one  picture,  of  which  the  Parousia  is  the  centre,  and  not 
distributed,  or  separated  into  their  temporal  relations,  as  in 
the  Apocalypse.  The  1,000  years  are  not  named  precisely 
as  they  are  not  named  by  Daniel,  Christ,  or  Paul,  but  are 
implicate  throughout.  Any  argument  drawn  from  the 
silence,  or  non-mention  of  the  1,000  years  by  the  Standards, 
against  the  truth  of  the  pre-millennial  advent,  is  an  argu- 
ment against  the  canonicity  of  the  Apocalypse,  which  is  not 


374  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

silent,  but  does  mention  these  years,  uncovering  only  what 
is  elsewhere  concealed  or  pre-intimated,  1  Cor.  15:  23,  24, 
and  arrays,  at  once,  the  Apocalypse  against  all  the  other 
Scriptures. 

The  result  of  this  forced  antagonism  is  either  the  denial 
of  the  1,000  years  as  a  measure  of  time,  or  the  extrusion  of 
the  Apocalypse  from  the  canon;  precisely  the  issue  made 
by  the  Gnostics  and  Dionvsins  of  Alexandria,  both  reject- 
ing the  authority  of  the  Sacred  Book,  then  boasting  of 
victory  over  the  primitive  Chiliasts!  The  silence  of  the 
Standards  no  more  proves  that  the  1,000  years  are  not  a 
measure  of  time,  or  that  the  Pre-Millennial  Advent  is  not 
true,  than  does  the  silence  of  Daniel  and  Paul,  in  their 
eschatology,  prove  that  the  later  and  more  developed  escha- 
tology  given  by  Christ  Himself  to  John,  is  contradictory  of 
the  earlier  and  less  developed,  and  on  that  account  unin- 
spired. The  silence  and  the  expression  are  both  harmon- 
ized by  the  "  apotelesmatic "  character  of  both  prophecy 
and  symbolism.  As  Antichrist  is  to  be  destroyed  before 
the  1,000  years,  by  the  Personal  Parousia,  the  conclusion 
is  leaped  to  at  once  by  the  irresistible  law  of  thought,  the 
necessary  impulse  of  reason,  that  the  Parousia  itself  is 
before  that  Judgment.  The  opposite  view  is  unthinkable 
because  self-contradictory.  And  as,  at  His  coming,  the 
righteous  dead  are  raised  to  enter  the  Kingdom,  this  other 
conclusion  is  immediate  and  irresistible,  also,  that  the  "  First 
Resurrection  "  is  literal.  "Whether  the  non-mention  of  the 
1,000  years  was  out  of  regard  to  the  opinions  of  anti- 
chiliasts  in  the  Assembly,  or  because  of  the  prejudices 
excited  by  the  false  "  Millennarii,"  or  from  set  purpose  to 
follow  simply  the  earlier  eschatological  representation,  is 
matter  of  no  consequence.  The  events  at  both  ends  of 
those  years  are  included.  These,  then,  are  some  of  the  pre- 
inillennarian  data  embedded  in  the  standards.  (I.)-  The 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MlLLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.  375 

1,000  years  are  still  future.  (2.)  There  is  not  a  syllable  as 
to  any  hint  of  1,000  years  of  universal  righteousness,  peace, 
and  holiness,  or  conversion  of  the  whole  world  to  God  before 
Christ  comes.  The  Whitbyan  theory  is  without  any  sup- 
port. (3.)  Prseterism  is  excluded.  (4.)  The  Beast  and 
False  Prophet  of  Rev.  XIII  are  imperial  Papacy  with  the 
Pope  its  Ruling  Head  and  identified  with  the  Man  of  Sin, 
the  Antichrist.  (5.)  This  identification  makes  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  Man  of  Sin  and  the  destruction  of  the  Beast 
and  False  Prophet  identical  also,  and  the  Judgment  in  Rev. 
19: 11-21  identical  with  the  Judgment  in  2  Thess.  2:  8,  i.  e., 
both  are  one,  and  at  the  Parousia,  when  the  Judgment  on 
Antichrist  occurs,  and  precede  the  1,000  years.  (6.)  The 
Parousia  in  2  Thess.  2:  8  is  a  literal  personal  Parousia,  the 
Second  Advent.  (7.)  The  temporal  sequence  of  Rev.  chap- 
ter 20th  and  chapter  19th  is  preserved,  in  other  words,  the 
1,000  years  do  not  contemporate  with  the  1,260  years  of 
Antichrist's  Dominancy,  nor  are  they  interjected  between 
the  Judgment  on  Antichrist  and  the  Parousia.  (8.)  The 
41  times  of  refreshing  "  when  the  Jews  are  converted,  belong 
to  the  times  attending  the  Second  Advent.  (9.)  The  events 
at  both  ends  of  the  1,000  years  are  included  in  the  repre- 
sentations of  the  "Last  Day."  The  result  of  all  is  that 
Christ's  Second  Coming  is  before  the  1,000  years.  These 
-data  furnish  a  demonstration  no  human  power  can  break, 
unless  by  a  "  Revision  of  the  standards  "  in  the  interest  of 
theories  the  Reformation  and  the  standards  alike  condemn. 
Nothing  is  simpler  or  clearer.  The  Judgment  on  the  Beast 
and  False  Prophet  is  before  the  1,000  years  as  all  theories 
admit,  Prseterist,  Continuist,  Whitbyan,  Futurist,  therefore 
it  is  pre-millennial.  But  the  Judgment  on  the  False 
Prophet,  who  is  the  Antichrist,  the  Pope,  the  Man  of  Sin, 
is  by  the  personal  Parousia  of  Christ,  therefore  the  Second 
Advent  is  pre-millennial.  This  is  the  whole  of  it,  and  "  by 


376  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST 

good  and  necessary  consequence."  Every  Reformed  symbol 
that  makes  the  Pope  Antichrist  and  the  Parousia  in  2 
Thess.  2:8  literal  is  bound  to  the  same  consequence.  Such 
is  the  doctrine  of  the  Westminster  symbol,  ripest  fruit  of 
the  Reformation  movement  that  flanked  the  mediaeval  posi- 
tion, and  opened  the  door  to  Chiliasm,  the  work  of  an 
Assembly  of  Divines,  Lord  Hailes  pronounced  "  unsurpassed 
since  the  days  of  the  Apostles,"  where  even  Milton  said, 
"  piety,  learning,  and  prudence  were  housed,"  and  of  which 
Baxter  said,  u  the  Christian  world,  since  the  days  of  the 
apostles,  had  never  seen  a  symbol  more  excellent."  (Westnu 
Assemb.  Presb.  Bd.  Pub.  175.) 

The  turbulence  of  the  Fifth  Monarchy  men  availed  not 
to  divert  the  Assembly  from  the  Protestant  interpretation 
of  the  Apocalyptic  symbols,  or  commit  it  to  a  rationalistic 
or  Papal  Praeterism.  built  upon  the  outrage  of  exegesis. 
The  English  Chiliasts  issued  a  public  protest  against  both 
the  conduct  and  principles  of  the  revolutionary  sect,  a  pro- 
test in  which  all  true  pre-millennarians  were  represented. 
(Keal's  Puritans,  II.  221.)  Eleven  years  after  the  Assem- 
bly adjourned,  the  English  Baptists  presented  their  pre- 
millennarian  confession  to  Charles  II.,  A.D.  1660,  John 
Bunyan's  name  among  the  number,  declaring,  ""We  believe 
that  Christ,  at  His  Second  Coming,  will  not  only  raise  the 
dead,  and  judge  and  restore  the  world,  but  also  take  to 
Himself  His  Kingdom,  which  will  be  a  universal  Kingdom 
and  that,  in  this  Kingdom,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  will  be 
the  alone  visible,  Supreme,  Lord  and  King  of  the  whole 
earth."  (Crosby's  Hist,  of  the  Baptists.)  In  New  Eng- 
land, as  in  Old  England,  the  martyr  faith  was  preached. 
Davenport  and  Walley,  Eliot  and  Whiting,  the  three 
Mathers,  Prince  of  the  Old  South  Church,  Boston,  Spauld- 
ing  of  the  Salem  Tabernacle,  were  only  a  few  of  the  mul- 
titudes in  whom  the  impulse  of  the  Reformation  and  West- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.   377 

minster  Assembly  lived  as  a  power  in  behalf  of  the  martyr 
doctrine. 

The  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth  century,  however, 
brought  its  important  lesson,  the  repetition  of  the  same 
that  was  taught  in  the  times  of  Constantine.  The  Church 
of  Christ  can  not  bear  prosperity  and  peace  in  this  Agey 
and  not  become  corrupt  in  doctrine  and  practice.  All  his- 
tory confirms  the  observation.  Times  of  peace  are  times  of 
peril  for  the  truth.  With  the  return  of  relief  after  fifteen 
years  of  the  Commonwealth  under  Cromwell,  and  with  the 
reactionary  restoration  of  semi-popery  under  Charles  and 
James,  England,  though  hallowed  with  martyr  blood,  once 
more  reared  aloft  her  "  mitred  front."  The  martyr  doctrine 
fell  into  disrepute.  The  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantz. 
by  Louis  XIY.,  that  crowning  perfidy  of  King  and  Court, 
assisted  to  promote  the  reaction.  Men,  like  the  politician 
Grotius,  and  divines  like  Hammond,  bending  to  the  times, 
now  revived  Rome's  arguments  invented  to  evade  the 
Protestant  interpretation  of  the  Apocalypse,  the  old  Prse- 
terism  of  Alcasar  and  Bellarmine,  the  Futurism  of  Ribera 
and  Malvenda,  either  throwing  the  1,000  years  into  the  pastr 
or  Antichrist  wholly  into  the  future,  and  denying  the  per- 
sonal reign  of  Christ  on  earth.  The  Roman  religion  again 
became  fashionable.  On  all  sides  the  cry  was  heard  for 
Organic  union,  reconstruction  of  the  Church,  and  demoli- 
tion of  dissenting  Creeds,  a  project  that  baffled  the  genius- 
of  even  a  Eossuet  and  Leibnitz.  And  so  the  wretched 
times  went  on.  But,  once  more,  true  Chiliasm  re-appeared, 
under  the  lead  of  men  who  had  suffered  as  witnesses  for 
the  truth.  The  French  Calvinists,  exiled  Huguenot's,  among 
whom  stood  Jurieu  and  JDanbuz,  supported  by  the  invinci- 
ble Cramner  of  England  and  others,  uplifted  the  banner  of 
Chiliasm,  and  re-established  the  Protestant  interpretation 
in  works  of  undying  value.  The  great  Baxter,  long  resist- 


378  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

ing,  confesses  he  is  powerless  to  confute  the  demonstrations 
of  the  pre-millennarians,  saying,  "  I  can  not  confute  what 
such  learned  men  as  Mr.  Mede,  Dr.  Twisse,  and  others 
have  hereof  asserted."  (Works,  II.  p.  513.) 

XIH.       EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.       THE  WIUTBYAN  THEORY.       BEN- 
GEL   AND   HIS    SCHOOL. 

The  eighteenth  century  opened  in  England  with  the  pub- 
lication of  an  elaborate  effort  on  the  part  of  Daniel  Whitby 
to  set  aside  the  Chiliastic  view,  by  what  he  claims  to  be  a 
"  New  Hypothesis,"  a  "  New  Discovery."  Briefly  stated, 
in.  the  peculiar  terms  of  the  title-page,  it  is  that  "  The  true 
millennium  is  not  a  reign  of  persons  raised  from  the  dead, 
but  of  the  church,  nourishing  gloriously  for  a  thousand 
years,  after  the  conversion  of  the  Jews,  and  the  flowing  in 
of  all  nations  to  them  thus  converted  to  the  Christian 
faith."  (Treatise  on  the  True  Millennium  ;  title.)  In 
other  words,  it  is  the  theory  of  the  world's  reformation  by 
its  conversion  to  God  under  large  outpourings  of  the 
Spirit  at  the  time  of  the  ingathering  of  the  Jews  and  the 
overthrow  of  Pope  and  Turk  together.  This  is  the  u  First 
Resurrection  "  figured  in  Rev.  20  :  4-6,  which  is  regarded 
as  simply  a  reproduction  of  Ezekiel's  vision  of  the  dry 
bones  restored  to  life,  and  a  symbolization  of  Paul's  word, 
Rom.  11  : 15,  an  undisturbed  universal  reign  of  righteous- 
ness, holiness,  peace,  and  victory,  before  the  Second 
Advent  ;  the  conversion  of  the  world  to  God  before  Christ 
comes,  and  by  an  increased  potency  of  the  ordinary 
means  of  grace.  This  theory  met  with  acceptance  ;  all 
the  more  that  it  had  built  itself  upon  the  interpolated 
text  of  Justin,  the  misapplied  passage  of  Irenaeus,  the  mis- 
representations of  Christian  Chiliasm  by  Origen,  Diony- 
sius,  Eusebius,  by  twisted  quotations  from  the  fathers,  and 
by  ascribing  the  paternity  of  Chiliasm  to  Jewish  apocry- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOGTRINE.   379 

phal  writings,  and  Sibylline  oracles  ;  and  all  the  more  that  it 
fortified  itself  with  the  glowing  language  of  the  prophets, 
regardless  of  New  Testament  eschatology,  and  not  only 
paraded  ingeniously  the  indiscreet  utterances  of  certain 
men,  but  attributed  to  the  defenders  of  true  Chiliasm  sen- 
timents they  never  held.  But  still  more.  The  terrible 
condition  of  Europe,  just  after  the  French  .Revolution,  the 
powerful  preaching  of  the  gospel,  the  earnest  prayer,  the 
"Great  Awakening1'  under  the  outpoured  Spirit,  marking 
the  eighteenth  century,  the  new  era  of  missions,  Bible, 
tract,  and  other  societies,  the  increased  interest  felt  in  the 
conversion  of  the  Jews,  the  established  concert  of  prayer 
for  the  "  conversion  of  the  world," — all  contributed  to 
make  the  Whitbyan  theory  popular.  Eminent  divines 
embraced  it,  wrote  it,  preached  it, — Vitringa,  Edwards, 
Hopkins,  Bellamy,  Bogue,  Scott,  and  many  more.  It  is 
the  theory  of  Faber,  Brown,  Fairbairn,  and  of  anti-premil- 
lennarians  in  general.  Unable  to  invalidate  the  Protestant 
interpretation  of  the  Apocalypse,  it  admits  the  1,000 
years  are  still  future.  Unwilling  to  interpret  those  years 
as  following  the  Second  Advent,  it  labors  to  locate  them, 
"secumdun  anagogen"  this  side  of  the  resurrection.  This 
it  does  by  teaching  that  the  Parousia  in  2  Thess.  2  : 8  is 
spiritual,  the  breath  of  the  Lord's  mouth  the  preaching  of 
the  gospel,  the  vision  in  Rev.  19  : 11-21  the  agency  of 
"  second  causes  "  in  the  overthrow  of  Pope,  Turk,  and 
anti-Christianity  politically,  the  vision  in  Rev.  20  : 1-6,  a 
spiritual  restraint  of  Satan's  power,  and  the  conversion  of 
the  Jews,  with  the  "  Anastasis "  as  including  a  grand 
revival  of  the  Gentile  Church.  The  Kingdom  of  Christ 
comes  in  triumph  on  earth  in  this  way,  under  the  seventh 
trumpet,  Islam  gone,  Papacy  gone,  Brahminism,  Buddhism, 
and  all  Heathenism  gone,  Atheism,  Infidelity,  Secularism, 
false  Science,  and  Philosophy,  and'  all  unrighteousness 


380  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

gone,  Politics,  Legislation,  Government,  and  Trade,  all 
right,  Satan  shut  up  1,000  years,  the  anti-Christian  nations 
all  converted,  the  whole  world  reformed,  the  times  of  resti- 
tution completed,  and  of  refreshing  present — all  before 
Christ  personally  and  visibly  appears. 

Unfortunately  for  Whitby,  the  so-called  "  New  Hypoth- 
esis" turns  out  to  be  an  exploded  one  before  Whitby's  day. 
Novel,  indeed,  in  the  prominence  it  achieved  under  Whit- 
by's  pen,  it  had  yet  been  openly  broached  and  rejected  be- 
fore Whitby  was  born.  The  first  article  of  Canon  Ryle's 
"Prophetic  Creed,"  recently  published,  viz.:  "I  believe 
that  the  world  will  never  be  completly  converted  to  Chris- 
tianity by  any  existing  agency  before  the  end  comes," — a 
position  Chalmers  had  emphasized  abundantly — is  only 
what  John  Knox  had  asserted,  in  the  days  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. "  To  reform  the  face  of  the  whole  earth,"  said  he, 
"is  a  thing  that  will  never  be  done  until  that  King  and 
Judge  appear  for  the  restitution  of  all  things."  (Treatise 
on  Fasting.)  It  is  what  John  Calvin  said,  "  There  is  no 
reason  why  any  person  should  expect  the  conversion  of  the 
world  ;  for,  at  length,  when  it  will  be  too  late,  and  yield 
them  no  advantage,  they  shall  look  on  Him  whom  they 
have  pierced."  (Com.  on  Matt.  24:30.)  Luther  was  no 
less  emphatic.  "Some  say  that  before  the  last  day  the 
whole  world  will  become  Christian;  This  is  a  falsehood, 
forged  by  Satan,  that  he  might  darken  sound  doctrine, 
that  we  might  not  rightly  understand  it.  Beware,  there- 
fore, of  this  delusion."  (Com.  on  John  10:11-16.)  Vit- 
ringa  shows  that  "VVhitby's  theory  is  mentioned  in  the 
writings  of  Conrad  of  Mantua,  and  Carolus  Gallus  a  Ley- 
den  professor,  both  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Homes, 
contemporary  of  Whitby,  quoted  from  the  Commentary  of 
Conrad  himself.  "We  may  see,"  says  Conrad,  "that 
diverse  hold  that  between  Christ's  coming  in  the  flesh  and 


4 

HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.  381 

coming  in  majesty,  there  is  a  middle  coming  of  spiritual 
power  and  force  to  destroy  the  great  Antichrist,  and  to 
reform  the  church.  They  say  Antichrist  shall  be  destroyed 
by  preaching,  and  that  his  kingdom  si i all  be  abolished, 
after  which  downfall  peace  shall  be  granted  to  the  church 
and  Satan  shall  be  bound."  The  passage  is  quoted  by 
Alsted,  in  his  "  Diatribe  "  and  its  position  condemned  as 
unscriptural.  Conrad  asserts  that  the  theory  is  not  that  of 
the  men  of  his  day,  and  begs  for  it  only  the  indulgence  of 
not  being  regarded  "  impious  or  absurd."  Vitringa  finds 
the  same  theory  named  in  Gallus.  The  "  New  Hypothe- 
sis "  was  simply  a  rejected  opinion,  revived  and  com- 
mended by  certain  additions  designed  to  solve  certain  diffi- 
culties which  it  failed  to  do,  only  adding  new  difficulties  to 
the  list.  (Homes,  Kes.  Eev.  439,  440;  Elliott,  Horee  IY, 
133.)  Never  in  any  age  had  it  any  foundation  in  any 
creed.  Never,  even  under  the  richest  outpourings  of  the 
Spirit  has  it  ever  achieved  an  acceptance  to  be  compared 
with  that  of  the  Pre-Millennial  faith  of  the  Martyr-Church. 
While  Chiliasm  was,  as  Hase  calls  it,  "a  great  Faith- 
Article  of  the  Apostolic  Church,"  Whitbyism  has  been 
simply  the  opinion  of  those  who  have  accepted  it  as  a  plaus- 
ible theory,  easy  to  their  comprehension.  It  is  not  the 
"  common  doctrine  "  of  the  Church,  even  now,  and  never 
was  "  doctrine "  at  any  time.  It  has  no  countenance  in 
any  creed  of  the  Church,  in  any  of  the  Reformed  symbols, 
least  of  all  in  the  Westminster  symbol.  It  denies  openly 
what  that  symbol  everywhere  teaches,  viz.:  that  the  Par- 
ousia  in  2  Thess.  2:8  is  a  personal  advent  of  Christ.  It 
interjects  the  1,000  years  between  the  Judgment  on  the 
Papal  Antichrist  and  that  Parousia,  which  the  Westminster 
symbol  teaches  are  contemporaneous  events,  thus  throwing 
the  1,000  years  beyond  the  Advent.  It  holds  the  vision  of 
the  raised  martyrs  in  Rev.  20 : 1-6  to  be  the  conversion  of 


382  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

the  Jewish  people  and  revival  of  the  Gentile  Church,  and 
not  a  literal  resurrection  of  the  Just.  It  places  the  Par- 
ousia  at  the  end  of  the  1,000  years,  instead  of  at  the  begin- 
ning, and  makes  the  former,  when  Christ  comes  to  enter  on 
His  visible  Kingdom,  coincide  with  the  latter,  when  lie 
surrenders  it  to  the  Father,  after  the  1,000  years  are  expired. 
Enough  to  say  that,  upon  W  hitby's  own  Protestant  inter- 
pretation of  the  Apocalyptic  Beast  as  the  Papal  Antichrist, 
it  is  an  impossibility,  for  if  the  "  First  Resurrection  "  is 
only  figurative  of  a  church-revival,  or  moral  resurrection, 
it  is  by  that  very  fact  proved  to  be  not  "  the  first,"  but  a 
third  resurrection,  two  other  similar  ones  having  previously 
been  figured  by  John,  in  Rev.  11:11,  and  12:10,  the  one 
referring  to  the  Reformation,  the  other  to  the  victory  of 
Constantino,  according  to  Whitby's  own  principle.  Nor 
will  Dr.  Fairbairn's  definition  of  "  first "  as  meaning 
"  greatest "  help  the  difficulty  in  the  least.  The  theory 
has  no  exegetical  foundation.  (Fairb.  on  Proph.  465.) 
Popular  as  was  the  theory,  however,  it  was  strongly  resisted 
by  men  of  learning  and  piety.  Pirie,  one  of  Scotland's  best 
scholars,  rejected  it.  Wells,  the  "  first  Greek  "  at  Oxford, 
and  Dr.  Hussey,  of  Cambridge,  criticised  it  very  unfavor- 
ably. Cunninghame  of  Lainshaw  furnished  a  complete 
antidote  to  it.  Whittaker  and  Zouch,  two  able  writers 
upon  the  Millennium,  supported  the  primitive  view.  Oth- 
ers did  the  same.  Sir  Isaac  Newton  took  the  ground  that 
the  prophecies  concerning  the  latter  day  glory  are  u  clear 
prophecies  concerning  the  Second  Coming,  given  not  only 
for  predicting,  but  for  effecting  the  recovery  and  establish- 
ment of  long-lost  truth,  and  the  setting  up  of  a  kingdom 
wherein  dwelleth  righteousness."  (Jour,  of  Proph.  IY,  127.) 
Bishop  Newton  used  the  following  language:  "The  King- 
dom of  Heaven  shall  be  established  on  earth.  We  should 
be  cautious  and  tender  of  making  the  first  resurrection  an 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.  383 

allegory,  lest  others  should  reduce  the  second  to  an  allegory, 
too,  like  those  whom  Paul  mentions — Hymeneus  and  Phil- 
etus."  (Diss.  on  Proph.  p.  212.)  Not  less  decided  was 
Archbishop  Newcome,  saying  :  "  I  understand  this,  not 
figuratively  of  a  peaceable  and  flourishing  state  of  the 
Church  on  earth,  but  literally  of  a  real  resurrection,  and  of 
a  reign  with  Christ  who  will  display  His  glory  in  the  New 
Jerusalem.  This  is  the  great  Sa-bbatism  of  the  Church." 
(Quoted  by  Bickersteth,  Diss.  on  Proph.  p.  106.)  More 
decided  was  Dr.  John  Gill,  the  distinguished  Baptist  Com- 
mentator and  Theologian:  "Christ  will  have  a  special, 
glorious,  peculiar,  and  visible  Kingdom,  in  which  He  will 
reign  personally  on  earth.  This  Kingdom  will  be  bounded 
by  two  resurrections — first,  by  the  resurrection  of  the  just, 
at  which  it  will  begin;  and,  second,  by  the  resurrection  of 
the  wicked,  at  which  it  will  end."  (Gill,  Divinity,  p.  429.) 
"We  expect,"  says  Dr.  Benson,  "His  second  advent  to 
restore  all  things,  to  judge  the  world,  to  condemn  His  ene- 
mies, and  to  begin  His  glorious  reign."  (Notes  on  Psal. 
76: 10-13;  98:  4-9.)  None  will  impugn  the  competency  or 
orthodoxy  of  Augustus  Toplady,  author  of  that  immortal 
lyric,  "Rock  of  Ages,  cleft  for  me!"  "I  am,"  said  he, 
"  one  of  the  old-fashioned  people  who  believe  the  doctrine 
of  the  Millennium,  and  that  there  will  be  two  distinct 
resurrections  of  the  dead — first,  of  the  just;  and,  second, 
of  the  unjust,  which  last  resurrection  of  the  reprobate  will 
not  commence  till  1,000  years  after  the  resurrection  of  the 
elect.  In  this  glorious  interval  of  1,000  years,  Christ,  I 
apprehend,  will  reign  in  person  over  the  Kingdom  of  the 
just."  (Sermons  III,  470.)  To  these  testimonies  might 
be  added  those  of  Horsley  and  Dodwell,  Fletcher,  Coke 
and  others.  "Wesley,  author  of  that  other  precious  hymn, 
"Jesus,  Lover  of  my  Soul  !"  a  close  follower  of  Bengel, 
even  in  some  of  his  untenable  interpretations,  was  a  Pre- 


384  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

Millennarian.  (Sermons  I,  191.)  "Your  book,"  said  he  to 
Hartley,  "  is  in  my  hands.  I  can  not  but  thank  you  for 
your  strong  and  seasonable  confirmation  of  that  comforta- 
ble doctrine  of  which  I  can  not  entertain  the  least  doubt, 
as  long  as  I  believe  the  Bible."  (Tyerman's  Life  and 
Times  of  Wesley,  II.  220,  251.)  A  volume  could  be  written 
to  show  that  able  men  of  all  denominations  rejected  the 
u  New  Hypothesis." 

It  was  ordained,  therefore,  that  the  very  century  which 
gave  the  Whitbyan  theory  to  the  Church,  should  provide  a 
vigorous  protest  against  it.  Sacred  poetry,  moreover, 
descended  on  swift  pinions  to  weave  a  fresh  wreath  around 
the  martyr  faith.  Isaac  Watts  tuned  his  harp  to  sing  the 
pre-milleunial  theme,  and  Charles  Wesley  woke  his  muse 
to  the  same  numbers.  Cowper  composed  a  matchless 
invocation  to  the  Coming  King,  and  Montgomery,  Heber, 
and  how  many  more!  all  sang  in  concert,  while  the  bosom 
of  the  whole  Church  thrilled  with  delight,  and  ten  thou- 
sand tongues  broke  forth  into  loud  hallelujahs,  and  old  men 
and  maidens,  and  young  men  and  matrons,  and  "  babes  and 
sucklings "  became  pre-milleniiarians  en  masse  without 
either  dogmatics  or  exegesis.  So  God  works. 

A  stronger  protest  was  lifted.  Germany  came  forward 
to  redeem  for  herself  the  promise  of  the  Reformation.  The 
great  Bengel,  twenty  years  a  student  of  prophecy,  and  only 
confirmed  in  the  Protestant  view  of  the  Apocalypse,  stood 
forth  in  exegesis  the  champion  of  pre-millennarianism. 
"  His  works,"  says  Dorner,  "were  the  first  cock-crowing  of 
that  new  kind  of  exegesis  the  Evangelical  Church  so  greatly 
needed."  (Hist.  Prot.  Theol.  II.  233.)  Eejecting  the 
Augustinian  theory,  and  regarding  the  Apocalypse  as 
chronological,  like  Daniel's  prophecies,  he  rejected  also  the 
Whitbyan  idea.  He  saw  in  the  Scriptures,  bright  shining 
before  him,  the  glory  of  Christ  on  earth  blessed  with  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FEE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.   385 

personal  presence  of  its  King,  as  the  end  and  aim  of  all  the 
ages,  one  result,  nature  and  spirit  reconciled,  with  man 
redeemed  from  the  dust  to  immortality,  both  became  the 
incorporate  beam  and  splendor  of  eternal  wisdom,  power, 
and  love.  Even  his  chronological  errors  were  of  benefit  to 
the  Church;  and  the  error  of  his  double  millennium  into 
which  he  was  betrayed  by  excessive  critical  skill,  was  itself 
a  light.  His  demonstrations  of  Chiliasm  rested  alone  on 
God's  word,  a  word  to  him  of  more  value  than  silver  or 
gold.  "  The  events,"  he  remarks,  "  in  Apoc.  1 9th  chapter, 
are  plainly  followed  by  those  which  take  place,  from  chap- 
ter 20:11  to  chapter  22:5.  The  millennium  comes  in 
between.  He  must  deny  the  perspicuity  of  the  Scripture, 
altogether,  who  persists  in  denying  this,  and  endeavors  to 
refute  it.  The  time  will  come  when  a  pure  Chiliasm  will 
be  thought  an  integral  part  of  orthodoxy."  (Gnomon,  V. 
365,  366.)  He  had,  as  Hengstenberg  says,  "  an  exegetical 
conscience."  Then  came  a  host  of  students,  all  teaching 
the  martyr  doctrine,  while  Zinzendorf  and  the  Moravian 
Brethren  were  guided  by  Bengel  as  by  the  hand  of  a  father. 
Keuss,  Roos,  Weismann,  Oetinger,  Crusius,  Jung,  Stilling, 
and  the  two  Hahns,  all  came  from  the  school  of  Bengel. 
Tired  of  the  idealistic  method  of  interpretation,  they 
embraced  the  Biblical  realism  that  restored  to  them  the 
Kingdom  of  God  on  earth  in  connection  with  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body  and  the  renovation  of  the  planet.  The 
debt  Christendom  owes  to  Bengel  is  immense,  and  we  may 
well  pardon  the  justifiable  pride  of  Delitzsch  when  he  asks, 
"  To  whom  else  do  we  owe  it  that  the  orthodox  Church  of 
the  present  time  does  not  brand  the  Chiliastic  view  of  the 
last  times  as  a  heterodoxy,  as  is  done  in  almost  all  the  man- 
uals of  dogmatics,  so  that  there  is  scarcely  a  believing 
Christian  now,  who  does  not  take  this  view  ?"  (Quoted  by 
Auberlen,  Daniel  p.  373.)  Since  BengePs  day,  evangelical 
25 


386  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

Germany  has  become  pre-millennarian.  The  answers  to 
Hengsten berg's  Prseterism  and  other  anti-chiliastic  theories 
are  named  by  the  hundred.  Conferences  and  unions  are 
held  everywhere  for  the  discussion  of  eschatological  topics. 

XIV.         NINETEENTH     CENTURY THE     PROMISED     TRIUMPH     OF 

THE    PRE-MILLENNIAL    DOCTRINE. 

As  we  look  back  upon  three  quarters  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  now  passed,  and  mark  the  progress  of  the  Pre- 
Millennial  doctrine,  by  what  a  galaxy  of  illustrious  names 
it  is  adorned,  by  what  piety  commended,  and  by  what 
unquestioned  orthodoxy  and  scholarship  supported,  and  how 
the  church  seems  to  be  rallying  around  it  as  in  the  martyr 
aere,  we  are  filled  with  gratitude  and  amazement.  What 
an  all-wise  Providence  means  to  intimate,  it  is  well  to  con- 
sider. No  doctrine  has  come  to  the  front  of  Christian 
thought  more  prominently  than  that  of  the  Pre-millennial 
return  of  Christ.  Since  Bengel's  day,  and  the  emancipation 
of  exegesis  from  the  fetters  of  a  lingering  mediaevalism 
and  from  a  priori  anti-chiliastic  inferences  drawn  from 
dogmatical  systems,  the  advance  has  been  simply  surprising. 
The  doctrine  "  has  attained  not  only,"  as  Kliefoth  observes, 
"  an  ever  increasing  dissemination  reaching  down  to  our 
time,  but  also,  in  contrast  with  the  earlier,  an  incomparably 
more  thorough  exegetical  and  theological  establishment." 
(OiFenb.  Joh.,  Ill,  288.)  Nothing  is  truer  than  the  declar- 
ation of  Koch,  in  his  masterly  work  against  Hengstenberg, 
Keil,  and  others,  that  "  All  anti-chiliastic  expositions  are 
utterly  wrecked  upon  the  indissolvable  connection  between 
the  19th  and  20th  chapters  of  the  Apocalypse."  (Das 
tausend.  Reich,  198.)  The  prow  and  the  seams  of  Praeterism, 
no  less  than  of  Whitbyan  pre-advent  Futurism,  are  opened 
and  broken  on  that  rock,  for  the  1,000  years'  Kingdom  is 
one  of  temporal  sequence  to  the  Judgment  of  the  Beast, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.  387 

and  in  which  the  saints  of  Jesus  celebrate  their  victory 
over  the  Beast.  Hengstenberg  is  candid  enough  to  admit 
it.  (Apoc.  II,  351.)  The  temporal  sequence  of  the  20th 
upon  the  19th  chapter  depends  in  no  sense  upon  the  question 
whether  the  Apocalypse  is  a  progressive  whole,  or  whether 
it  is  a  series  of  " groups"  of  visions,  each  one  reaching  to 
the  Parousia,  but  solely  upon  the  relation  of  the  succeeding 
Triumph  of  the  Saints  to  the  Slain  Beast.  Otherwise, 
interpreters  may  amuse  themselves  by  putting  the  sixth 
vial  in  place  of  the  third,  the  fourth  in  place  of  the  first, 
just  as  Anti-chiliastists  do  the  Victory  before  the  Battle  is 
fought,  the  Millennium  before  the  Advent.  The  Millennium 
can  never  begin  while  the  Beast  lives.  The  position  is 
impregnable.  As  Theurer  says,  "  es  steht  exegelisch  fest." 
And  the  remark  of  Delitzsch,  above  quoted,  is  not  less  true 
for  Germany  than  is  the  remark  of  Alford  for  Christendom, 
when  speaking  of  Apocalyptic  interpreters  since  the  French 
revolution,  he  says:  "The  majority,  both  in  number,, 
learning,  and  research,  adopt  the  pre-millennial  advent,, 
following  the  plain  and  undeniable  sense  of  the  sacred 
text."  (N.  T.  Yol.  II,  Part  I,  Introd.  350.)  Amid  many 
difficulties  and  diversities  of  interpretation,  inseparable 
from  a  theme  so  great,  spanning  as  it  does  the  whole  King- 
dom of  God,  and  which  none  but  a  sciolist  would  expect 
the  church  to  completely  solve  at  the  present  day,  the  main, 
doctrine  holds  on  its  way,  ever  achieving  new  victories  in 
which  both  "  continuist  "  and  "  futurist  "  expositors  rejoice. 
The  progress  of  history  only  confirms  the  Protestant  inter- 
pretation, without,  however,  limiting  the  development  of 
Anticliristianity  to  the  Papacy,  or  spiritual  Babylon  to  the 
merely  Roman  Church,  which  is  the  "  Mother  of  Harlots," 
or  nationalized  Hierarchies.  Enough  to  know  that  "  the 
Antichrist "  arises  from  the  illicit  commerce  of  Church 
and  State,  and  comes  to  his  end  in  the  very  bosom  of 


388  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

apostate  Christendom.  Enough  to  know  that  the  infidelity 
of  our  times  is  located  under  the  sixth  and  seventh  vials, 
precursors  of  the  last  anguish  of  Christendom  under  the 
sounding  of  the  seventh  trumpet,  according  to  the  contin- 
uist  expositors,  who,  in  company  with  the  futurists  who 
regard  the  Apocalypse  as  a  u  Book  of  the  End,"  believe  we 
are  rapidly  approaching  the  "  Time  of  the  End;  " — the  end 
of  the  "  Times  of  the  Gentiles  "  and'  of  Israel's  rejection 
and  expectancy.  It  is  not  alone  remarkable  that  devoted 
missionaries  in  heathen  lands  have  been  impressed  with  the 
truth  of  the  chiliastic  view,  and,  if  recent  information  be 
correct,  that  the  majority  now  on  the  field  are  of  the  same 
faith.  Certain  it  is  that,  in  that  very  period  which  anti- 
chiliasts  are  forced  to  admit  was  the  bloom  time  of  early 
Chiliasm,  the  intermediate  century  between  the  death  of 
John  and  the  monster  Caracalla,  never  was  missionary  zeal 
more  ardent.  "Mitred  with  Pentecostal  flame,"  an 
intensely  Pre-Millennarian  Church  carried  the  Gospel 
beyond  the  bounds  of  the  Roman  Empire,  and  won  vic- 
tories denied  to  Csesar.  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa  had 
everywhere  heard  the  joyful  sound.  Not  that  the  Empire 
was  converted  to  God,  or  religion  universally  prevailed,  but 
that  the  Chiliastic  Church,  that  fought  the  Gnostics,  and 
bathed  itself  in  its  own  blood  for  Christ,  had  already  gone 
over  classic  ground  and  reared  its  undying  fane  where 
Demosthenes  had  thundered  against  Philip  and  Cicero  had 
flamed  against  Cataline;  and  far  beyond,  where  Semiramis 
had  built  Assyrian  splendor,  where  Hannibal  had  massed 
his  legions,  and  where  Zenobia  ruled  the  Palmyrene.  The 
Chiliast,  Tertulliau,  could  say  to  the  Roman  Praetor:  "  We 
are  but  of  yesterday.  We  have  left  you  nothing  but  your 
temples  to  yourselves!" — all  this  a  hundred  years  before 
Constantine!  But.  more  remarkable  than  the  return  of 
modern  missionaries  to  the  primitive  conception  of  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.  389 

relation  of  the  Gospel  to  the  coming  visible  Kingdom  and 
Appearing  of  Christ,  is  the  fact  that  pre-millennarian 
voices,  deep  and  sublime,  have  come  sounding,  in  the 
present  century,  from  the  very  bosom  of  the  Papacy  itself. 
Pere  Lambert,  a  French  Dominican  and  scholar  of  great 
learning,  renounced  the  Papal  theory,  while  yet  in  the 
Papal  Church,  and  published  an  eloquent  defence  of  Chil- 
iasm.  Lacunza,  a  Spanish  Jesuit,  abandoning  the  defences 
of  Bellarrnine  and  P>ossuet,  gave  to  the  world  his  celebrated 
work  on  "  The  Coming  of  the  Messiah  in  Glory  and  Majesty," 
which  so  fired  the  soul  of  Edward  Irving  (erratic  in  some 
things,  but  still  a  noble  soul)  that  he  translated  it  into 
English  for  the  benefit  of  Protestant  England  and  Scotland. 
These  are  remarkable  signs.  By  the  side  of  his  illustrious 
protege  stood  the  great  Chalmers,  beaming  with  the  expres- 
sion, "Of  this  I  am  satisfied,  that  the  next  Coming  of 
Christ  will  be  a  coming,  not  to  final  judgment,  but  a  com- 
ing to  usher  in  the  Millennium.  I  utterly  despair  of  the 
universal  prevalence  of  Christianity  as  the  result  of  a 
missionary  process.  I  look  for  its  conclusive  establishment 
through  a  widening  passage  of  desolations  and  judgments, 
with  the  demolition  of  our  civil  and  ecclesiastical  structures. 
Overturn,  Overturn,  Overturn,  is  the  watchword  of  our 
approaching  Lord."  (Quoted  by  Bonar.)  "  I  desire  to 
cherish  a  more  habitual  and  practical  faith  than  heretofore 
in  that  coming  which  even  the  first  Christians  were  called 
to  hope  for  with  all  earnestness,  even  though  many  centu- 
ries were  to  elapse  ere  the  hope  could  be  realized;  and  how 
much  more  we  who  are  so  much  nearer  this  great  fulfillment 
than  at  the  time  when  they  believed!  "  (Sabbath  Readings 
I,  311.)  In  the  same  hope  stood  Drs.  Candlish  and  Guthrie 
and  many  others  gone  to  meet  the  Bridegroom  already,  and 
accompany  Him  at  His  return.  (Life  in  a  Eisen  Saviour, 
273,  274,  386.  Gospel  in  Ezekiel,  375.)  So  spoke  the 


390  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

"Northern  Star,"  while  Robert  Hall,  the  "Southern  Sun," 
set  behind  the  clouds,  beautiful,  indeed,  in  his  declining 
splendor,  but  lamenting  to  Mr.  Thorpe  that  "he  had  not 
preached  the  pre-millennarian  views  he  entertained." 
(Duffield  on  the  Prophecies,  259.) 

It  is  simply  impossible  to  catalogue  all  the  names,  in  the 
present  century,  that  cluster  around  the  doctrine  to  give  it 
support.  I  can  mention  but  a  few.  Among  Presbyterians 
abroad,  we  find  the  names  of  Chalmers,  Irving,  Candlish, 
Hewitson,  Anderson,  Begg,  the  three  Bonars,  McCheyne, 
Burns,  Gilfillan,  McDonald,  Stewart,  Cnmmings,  Mackay, 
Frazer,  Jamieson,  Faussett,  Cochrane,  Adolph  Saphir,  who 
are  but  specimens  of  more  of  the  same  character  for  piety, 
scholarship,  and  Christian  zeal.  In  the  United  States, 
such  names  as  Drs.  Geo.  Duffield,  T.  E.  Thomas,  R.  T. 
Breckenridge,  Joel  Parker,  Krebs,  Lillie,  Shimeall  —  all 
gone  to  their  reward,  and  followed  by  living  witnesses  for 
the  truth,  Duffield  of  Princeton,  Willis  Lord,  Yan  Doren, 
Brookes,  Craven,  Poor,  Blauvelt,  R.  D.  Morris,  Kellogg,  S. 
R.  Wilson,  Laird,  Parsons,  Wyckoff,  Congden,  Lee,  Whit- 
tlesy,  Cooper,  Morehead,  Flint,  Adams,  Bierce,  F.  T. 
Brown,  Bittinger,  Sankey,  Stewart,  Foote,  Baker,  Gillespie, 
Lichtenstein,  Spence,  French,  Reed,  R.  Patterson,  Erdman, 
Matthews,  Galloway,  Bar,  Ashurst,  Bacon,  Mack,  Eddy, 
Paxon,  Pitzer,  Dinwiddie,  Marquis,  Nevin,  Allen,  Riley, 
Reed,  Sample,  Davis,  Marvin,  Reynolds,  Wanamaker, 
Wallace — ministers,  pastors,  presidents,  and  professors  in 
colleges  and  theological  seminaries.  The  Church  of 
England,  abroad,  is  like  Joseph,  a  fruitful  vine,  whose 
branches  run  over  the  wall.  Elliott  and  the  two  Maitlands, 
Birks,  Yan  Mildert,  Home,  Bickersteth,  Auriol,  Girdlestone, 
Melville,  and  Freemantle,  Ryle,  Iloare,  Wood,  Rainsford, 
Moleneaux,  Cox,  Kelley,  Wilson,  Noel,  Brock,  Smith, 
Woodward,  McNeile,  Dallas,  Grimshawe,  Raikes,  Otild, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.   391 

Tattershall,  Trotter,  Stevenson,  Niven,  Shephard,  Newton, 
Ellicott,  French,  Alford,  Tregelles,  Brooks,  Pym,  Dalton, 
Gresswell,  Burgh,  Todd — men  of  the  first  culture  and  posi- 
tion, are  only  instances  of  a  multitude  more  among  the 
Anglican  Bishops,  Deans,  Prebenderys,  Canons,  and  .Rectors, 
who  hold  thepre-millennial  advent  of  Christ,  and  the  literal 
"  First  Resurrection."  Noble  names,  in  the  Episcopal 
Church  of  the  United  States,  stand  by  their  side,  Mclllvaine, 
Henshaw,  Niles,  the  two  Tyngs,  Winthrop,  Morgan,  John- 
son, Nicholson,  Vail,  Bancroft,  Perkins,  Hastings,  Farrer, 
Booth,  Ward,  Grammer,  Feltwell,  Dobbs,  Smith,  Newton 
and  Trenwith.  Among  the  Congregationalists,  who  hold 
the  same  faith,  are  Lorimer,  Wild,  Bancroft,  Litch,  Adams, 
Morton,  Milton,  Goodwin,  Kingman,  Burton,  Andrews, 
Clarke,  Russell,  Cunningham,  Osier,  Pierce,  Thayer. 
Among  the  Baptists,  Gordon,  Herr,  Saunders,  Harris, 
Evans,  Stifler,  Barralle,  Peters,  Tower,  Jones,  Brown,  Beck- 
ley,  Miller,  White,  Jacobs,  Cameron,  Titus,  Cordo,  Stone. 
Among  the  Methodists,  Durbin,  Parker,  Gilbert,  Hall, 
Harvey,  Foster,  Blackstone,  Lummiss,  Krehbiel,  Nast.  In 
the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  Thompson,  Demarest,  Gordon, 
R.  F.  Clarke,  W.  H.  Clarke,  Merritt,  Ballagh,  Bishop, 
Brown.  Among  the  Lutherans,  Seiss,  and  others.  All 
these  are  unanimous  on  the  two  main  positions  of  the  pre- 
millennial  doctrine,  viz.:  thepre-millennial  advent  and  the 
literal  "  First  Resurrection."  The  names  of  Gaussen  and 
Godet,  also  adorn  the  catalogue  of  Pre-Millennarians.  Hol- 
land gives  us  Da  Costa,  Capadose,  Roorda,  and  Yan  Oosterzee. 
Germany's  ranks  are  majestic  with  men  who  defend  the 
martyr  doctrine.  Schlegel,  Auberlen,  Baumgarten,  Krum- 
macher,  Starke,  Stier,  Delitzsch,  Zunz,  Fiirst,  Ebrard, 
Hofmann,  Guers,  Luthardt,  Christiani,  Rinck,  Hebart, 
Stockmayer,  Koch,  Lechler,  Kling,  Moll,  Pfleiderer,  Lange, 
Rothe,  Schenkel,  Ritzsch,  Sander,  Riggenbach,  Olshausen, 


392  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

De  Wette,  Theurer,  Gerlach,  Thiersch,  Zimpel,  Nitzsch, 
Schneider,  Graber,  Riemann,  Steffarm  —  where  shall  we 
end? — the  great  body  of  the  South  German  divines,  and 
large  numbers  in  the  North.  With  deep  philosophic  and 
theological  insight,  has  Christlieb,  sympathizing  with 
Oetinger,  set  in  their  true  relations  the  first  and  second 
resurrections.  (Modern  Doubt,  p.  452.)  If  we  search 
ancient  or  modern  literature,  we  shall  find  no  defence  of 
primitive  Chiliasm  more  profound,  scholarly,  or  biblical, 
than  the  argument  given  us  by  the  celebrated  Dorner,  in 
the  first  volume  of  his  unrivalled  work  on  the  Person  of 
Christ.  (Person  of  Christ  I.  407-415.)  For  a  generation, 
the  famous  u  Haus-Bibel,"  of  Richter,  following  in  the 
Chiliastic  steps  of  the  yet  more  celebrated  Berlerberg  Bible, 
the  fruit  of  German  Pietism,  has  been  in  the  homes  of 
evangelical  Germany,  a  salt  against  its  rationalism,  teaching 
the  pre-millennial  doctrine,  and  the  Commentaries  of 
Meyer,  Olshausen,  and  Stier,  and  the  Synopsis  of 
Starke,  have  only  contributed  immensely  to  the  same 
result.  In  the  same  Chiliastic  path  treads  the  valuable 
critical  labors  of  Jamieson  and  Faussett,  in  the  Commen- 
tary which,  in  company  with  Dr.  David  Brown,  they  have 
given  to  the  world.  The  "Bibel-Werk"  of  Lange  and  his 
collaborators,  spread  throughout  Germany,  and  put  into 
English  dress  by  Dr.  Schaif  and  his  able  assistants — a  work 
in  which  Lange,  VanOosterzee,  Kling,  Lechler,  Moll,  Auber- 
len,  Riggenbach,  Craven,  Lillie,  Poor,  and  many  others 
referred  to  in  the  text  and  notes,  stand  forth  in  the  front 
line  of  Chiliasts — and  the  edition  of  Van  Oosterzee's  Dog- 
matics by  Drs.  II.  B.  Smith  and  Schaff,  Union  Theological 
Seminary,  New  York,  the  most  pronounced  Chiliastic 
system  of  Dogmatics  extant,  have  done  more  to  indoctrin- 
ate the  American  ministry  withpre-millennarianism,  than  all 
the  works  published  on  the  subject,  in  the  United  States, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  P  RE -MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.  39$ 

for  the  last  fifty  years.  In  the  same  line  are  the  truly 
evangelical  and  valuable  Commentaries  of  Canon  Ryle  on* 
the  Gospels.  Nor  has  it  been  the  least  noticeable  fact  that,, 
in  this  century,  eminent  laymen  like  Cunningham  of 
Lainshaw,  Sabine,  Hugh  Miller,  the  Duke  of  Manchester, 
Lord,  Jones,  Habershon,  Thorp,  Alexander,  Charles  the 
Landgrave  of  Hesse,  Boudinot,  and  others,  like  Sir  Isaac 
Newton,  Tycho  Brahe,  and  Lord  Napier,  before  them,  have 
not  disdained  to  study,  or  write  upon,  the  prophecies,  and 
declare  themselves  convinced  of  the  pre-millennarian  doc- 
trine. Bishop  Newton's  word  is  true.  "  The  doctrine 
sprang  up  at  the  Reformation,  and  will  flourish,  together 
with  the  study  of  Revelation."  (Diss.  on  Proph.  592.) 

Nor  is  it  possible  to  enumerate  all  the  various  agencies 
by  which,  in  the  present  century,  as  bulwarks  of  support,. 
Chiliasm  is  defended  in  the  various  nations  of  Christen- 
dom ;  public  lectures,  critical  works,  the  mere  titles  of  which 
would  fill  a  volume,  magazines,  reviews,  discourses,  tracts,, 
pamphlets  and  newspapers,  dissertations  and  elaborate 
critical  expositions  and  commentaries,  all  on  the  absorbing 
theme.  Never,  since  the  martyr-age,  has  Christian  Chil- 
iasm attained  such  distinction.  Ere  long,  the  early  faith 
will  be  such  that  it  will  need  no  creed  or  council  to  tell  the 
world  that  it  is  ecumenical.  Singular  circumstance!  The 
Free  Italian  Church,  under  the  very  shadow  of  the  toppling 
Tiara  that  once  sat  so  proudly  on  the  Pontiffs  head,  while 
its  feet  crushed  the  martyr-faith  to  the  earth,  has  adopted 
the  pre-millennial  view.  At  Milan,  A.D.  1870,  and  again 
at  Florence  A.  D.  1876,  it  published  to  the  world  its  official 
"Declaration"  of  faith,  announcing  two  resurrections,  one 
at  the  beginning  when  "  the  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise  first," 
the  other  at  the  end,  "  after  the  Kingdom,"  when  "  all  the 
rest  shall  arise  to  be  judged  in  judgment" — a  Declaration 
which,  to  any  one  who  studies  it,  will  be  discovered  to  be 


394  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

only  a  development  of  the  13th  and  14th  Articles  of  the 
Evangelical  Free  Church  Confession  of  Geneva.  It  is  in  the 
Creed  of  the  Keformed  Episcopal  Church,  United  States. 
{Schaff.  Creeds  of  Christendom.  III.  787,  784,  785,  814.) 
The  augury  is  blessed !  "  Manet,  Mansurum"  Intelligent 
textual  criticism  is  on  its  side,  resting  alone  on  a  grammat- 
ical and  historical  basis.  The  structure  of  the  Apocalypse  is 
•on  its  side.  The  "  Recapitulation "  theory  is  doomed. 
" Secundum  Anagogen^  has  failed.  Tichonius  is  tired. 
Augustine's  "  former  opinion  "  asks  for  re-installation.  Ori- 
_gen  and  Plato  must  part  forever.  The  laws  of  prophetic 
interpretation,  better  understood,  are  on  its  side,  as  are  the 
laws  of  symbolism  and  apocalyptic.  The  comprehension  of 
history  in  its  scope,  progress,  relations,  unity,  converging 
to  one  end,  is  on  its  side.  Even  natural  science  begins  to 
shake  hands  with  the  Bible  and  recognize  but  one  objective 
in  the  destiny  of  the  Planet,  something  beyond  "stunted 
bushes  magnified  into  goodly  trees,"  a  "kingdom  of  the 
future,"  which  "Faith,  undeceived  by  the  mirage  of  the 
midway  desert,"  holds  up  to  view — a  "  terminal  dynasty  " — 
only  to  be  entered  upon,  "  at  return 

Of  Him  the  woman's  Seed, 
Last  in  the  clouds,  from  heaven  to  be  revealed 
In  glory  of  the  Father,  to  dissolve 
Satan,  with  this  perverted  world." 

(Hugh  Miller.    Footprints,  307.) 

XV.    SYNOPTICAL    VIEW.       OBJECTIONS. 

Thus  have  I  sketched,  in  an  imperfect  way,  an  outline  of 
the  history  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Pro-Millennial  Advent  of 
•our  Lord,  from  the  time  of  the  vision  of  the  Babylonian 
King  to  the  present  day.  It  is  but  a  marginal  note  at  the 
side  of  the  great  theme.  The  fortunes  of  the  doctrine  have 
been  various.  By  some  it  has  been  unrighteously  called  a 
Jewish  conceit,  by  others  a  Gnostic  invention,  by  others  a 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.   395 

Christian  delusion,  by  others  an  ecclesiastical  heresy.  Like 
every  other  doctrine,  it  has  often  been  misapprehended  by 
its  friends,  perverted  and  assailed  by  its  enemies,  ridiculed, 
traduced,  condemned.  A  study  of  its  history,  however, 
reveals  that  orthodox  Chiliasm  is  one  thing;  heretical 
another.  A  Pre-advent  Millennium,  or  Post-Millennium, 
locating  the  1,000  years  before  the  resurrection  is  one 
thing;  Pre-Millennarianism,  locating  the  1,000  years  after 
the  resurrection,  is  another.  I.  Under  Pre-advent  Millen- 
narianisin  are  included  all  the  false  forms  of  Chiliasm; 
(1)  the  carnal  Jewish,  denying  Jesus  as  Messiah  and  setting 
up  the  kingdom  of  the  1,000  years  by  fire  and  sword 
"  before  the  resurrection; "  (2)  the  carnal  Anabaptist, 
confessing  Jesus  as  Messiah,  and  setting  up  the  Kingdom 
of  the  1,000  years  by  fire  and  sword  "  before  the  resurrec- 
tion" So  also  the  Fifth  Monarchy  men;  (3)  the  spiritual 
and  ecclesiastical  Chiliasm  (a]  of  the  Constantinian,  (b)  of 
the  Papal,  Church,  (<?)  of  some  Protestants,  comprising  (1) 
all  Prseterists,  (2)  all  Whitbyans,  (3)  all  compounders  of 
these  two  theories — all  confessing  Jesus  as  Messiah,  and  all 
seeking  for  the  Kingdom  of  the  1,000  years  "before  the 
resurrection"  None  of  these  are  ./V0-Millermarians,  nor 
can  be.  All  are  /W-Millennurians,  or  Pre-advent  "  Mil- 
lennaries"  and,  whether  holding  the  gross  or  finer  form 
of  Chiliasm,  their  common  fundamental  heresy,  viz.,  that 
the  Millennium  comes  "  before  the  resurrection"  has  been 
condemned  by  the  primitive  church  and,  in  the  most 
decided  manner  by  the  symbols  of  the  Reformation.  The 
blow  that  struck  the  gross  carnal  extreme,  on  the  one  side, 
struck  the  finer  spiritual  on  the  other  side,  at  the  same 
time,  and  ruled  out  every  form  of  Chiliasm  that  looked  for 
the  Kingdom  of  the  1,000  years  "before  the  resurrection" 
Anabaptists,  Fifth  Monarchy  men,  Jews,  "Whitbyans,  and 
Praeterists,  are,  in  common,  condemned  in  their  common 


396  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

error  of  Pre-advent  Chiliasm,  or  Post-Millennarianism. 
The  grosser  form  is  simply  Judaism  under  a  Christian 
name;  the  finer  form  is  simply  the  Papal  theory  in  a 
Protestant  dress  —  the  Constantinian  date  being  moved 
further  along  into  the  future,  yet  always  fixed  1,000  years 
"  before  the  resurrection"  "  The  Augustinian  Theory," 
says  Ebrard,  "  was  essentially  the  same  fundamental  error 
held  by  the  Anabaptists,  and  which  the  Augsburg  and 
Helvetic  Confessions  condemned  as  a  Jewish  dream,  viz.: 
"that  the  saints  should  have  a  temporal  kingdom  1,000 
years  before  the  resurrection.  With  deep  practical  insight 
the  Reformers  saw  through  the  irpurav  ^Joc  of  this  pseudo- 
Chiliasm."  (Herzog,  Real-Encyck.  Vol.  X.  582.)  II. 
Under  its  proper  title  Pre-Millennarianism,  is  found  the 
one  true  and  orthodox  form  of  Christian  Chiliasm,  the 
doctrine  of  the  martyr-church,  the  faith  of  modern  Pre- 
Millennarians,  the  door  for  whose  re-entrance  was  opened 
by  the  Reformation,  and  now  defended  by  a  majority  of  the 
ablest  critics  and  expositors  of  the  New  Testament.  To 
charge,  therefore,  that  the  conceptions  of  Pre-Millennarians 
are  the  same  as  those  of  Jews,  Anabaptists,  and  Fifth 
Monarchy  men  is  not  only  to  display  ignorance,  and  falsify 
history,  but  traduce  thousands  of  the  ablest,  most  orthodox, 
learned,  and  devoted  servants  of  Christ — a  transgression 
not  less  than  to  declare  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Pre-Mil- 
lennial  Advent  was  condemned  by  the  Augustana,  Helvetic, 
Belgic,  and  Westminster  Confessions,  and  rely  on  the 
confusion  and  misrepresentations  of  such  writers  as  Ross, 
Paget,  Featly,  and  Edwards  for  proof. 

That  Christian  Chiliasm  was  no  carnal  conceit  of  "  later 
Jews,"  but  an  orthodox  faith  common  to  the  pious  Jews  of 
the  Old  Testament  and  Christians  of  the  New,  Olshausen 
has  conclusively  shown.  (Com.  on  Matt.  22:29,  30.  Luke 
14:12-14.  1  Cor.  15:23.)  That  its  non-mention  in  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.  397 

Apostles'  Creed  is  no  argument  against  it  whatever,  is  tri- 
umphantly shown  by  Principal  Cunningham.  (Hist.  Theol. 
I.  81,  87,  89.)  That  it  was  the  general  belief  of  the  ortho- 
dox Church  for  three  hundred  years  is  an  assertion  not 
invalidated  by  any  attempt  to  impeach  the  testimony  of  the 
fathers,  on  the  ground  of  any  statements  of  Eusebius, 
Neander,  Shedd,  or  others,  as  that  it  was  derived  from 
Papias,  was  not  ecumenical,  and  was  cherished  in  times  of 
persecution  only  for  comfort's  sake,  and  relinquished  in 
times  of  prosperity,  as  a  heresy,  when  the  comfort  was  no 
longer  needed. 

For  (1)  Mosheim  tells  us  Eusebius  "  is  not  to  be  trusted." 
(Three  Centuries,  II,  245.)  (2)  Meander,  does  not  affirm 
what  he  is  made  by  so  many  to  affirm,  but  only  says  that 
we  can  say  "  nothing  with  certainty  and  positiveness" — 
an  unfortunate  word  into  which  he  was  betrayed  by  yield- 
ing too  much  to  Eusebius  (Hist.  Chr.  Eel.  I,  651),  but 
atoned  for,  in  measure,  by  his  open  pre-millennarianism, 
when  expounding  Acts  3: 19-21.  (Planting  and  Training, 
39.)  (3)  The  Fathers  speak  as  "  Witnesses"  not  as  private 
"  doctors  "  giving  a  private  "  opinion  "  on  this  subject,  but 
"  testifying"  as  Daille  well  says,  "  what  the  belief  of  the 
Church  was  in  their  time  " — the  orthodox  in  Justin's  time 
being  "all  of  the  same  persuasion," — a  belief  that,  in 
Jerome's  time,  "  generally  prevailed  in  the  Church,"  and 
which  Chillingworth  affirms  was  the  "  Catholic  doctrine  of 
the  Church,"  testified  to  by  the  Fathers  as  "  witnesses," 
and  not  as  private  individuals.  (Daille,  Use  of  the  Fathers, 
189,  288-290.  Chillingworth,  Works  729-734.) 

(4.)  The  objection  that  Chiliasm  was  not  ecumenical 
faith  because  not  in  a  creed  is  valueless,  for  (a)  many  true 
doctrines,  Baptism,  Lord's  Supper,  Election,  Justification, 
Damnation  of  the  Wicked,  were  ecumenical  faith,  and  not 
found  in  the  Apostles'  Creed ;  (&)  many  doctrines  are  true 


398  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

which  are  found  in  creeds  that  are  not  ecumenical;  (<?) 
creeds  are  not  full  expositions  of  faith,  but  chiefly  thetic 
propositions  deemed  true  as  against  anti-thetic  propositions 
deemed  false;  (d)  ecumenicity  is  not  a  synonym  of  numer- 
ical totality,  but  only  of  a  majority  vote  in  a  council;  nor 
is  real  ecumenicity  dependent  on  either  a  council  or  creed 
for  its  existence;  (e)  as  the  presence  of  ecumenicity  is  no 
test  of  truth,  its  absence  is  no  proof  of  error,  the  dictum 
of  Yincentius  notwithstanding — "  Quod  semper,'7  etc.;  (f) 
the  appeal  to  the  Apostles'  Creed  as  a  test  of  ecumenical 
faith  was  the  appeal  of  the  Arians,  and  repelled  by  the 
Council  of  Nice,  the  appeal  also  of  the  Popes  for  their 
Hades  doctrine  and  repelled  by  the  Reformation.  (5.)  The 
argument  as  to  the  relation  of  Chiliasm  to  persecution,  or 
that  the  Church  was  heretical  under  Nero  and  Domitian, 
but  orthodox  under  Constantine  and  Hildebrand,  is  equally 
valueless;  for  this  makes  the  historic  occasion  of  the  exhi- 
bition of  a  truth  the  providential  demonstration  of  its 
error,  and  the  historic  occasion  of  the  exhibition  of  an  error 
the  providential  demonstration  of  its  truth.  Popery  can 
be  established,  and  Protestantism  wrecked  by  this  reason- 
ing. Whether  Christ  comes  before  the  1,000  years  is  not 
to  be  decided  affirmatively  when  Ignatius  goes  to  the  lions* 
and  negatively  when  Eusebius  outstrips  the  eunuchs  of  the 
palace  in  flattery  of  Constantine.  Whether  "  Parousia  "  in 
2  Thess.  2:8  and  "Anastasis"  in  Rev.  20:6  are  literal, 
whether  the  Binding  of  Satan,  Rev.  20:2,  is  identical  with 
the  Dejection  of  the  Dragon,  Rev.  12:  9,  or  the  1,000  years 
is  a  measure  of  time,  or  Antichrist  is  the  Pope,  or  "  some 
other  man,"  are  questions  not  to  be  voted  "  Aye "  when 
Huss  and  Jerome  of  Prague  are  crackling  in  the  fire,  and 
voted  "  No  "  when  Chalmers  and  Hall  are  shining  in  the 
pulpit.  The  doctrines  of  the  Bible  do  not  depend  on  phases 
of  eternal  church  history  for  their  truth. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.  399 


XVI.       MARVELOUS  SURVIVAL    OF   THE   DOCTRINE. 

When  we  consider,  but  one  moment,  against  what  fearful 
odds  this  precious  doctrine  of  the  personal  appearing  of  the 
Incarnate  .Redeemer  on  earth,  to  unite  the  heirs  and  tha 
inheritance  in  a  glorious  visible  Kingdom,  has  had  to  force 
its  way  through  the  centuries,  we  shall  stand  amazed,  and 
confess  that  only  because  it  is  an  imperishable  truth  of  God 
has  it  been  able  to  survive  the  ordeal  through  which  it  ha& 
passed.  The  debasement  of  the  doctrine  by  intermixtures- 
of  Jewish  fables  arid  carnal  conceits;  the  reproach  that 
attended  it  because  confessed  by  the  martyrs  of  Jesus  whom 
the  whole  power  of  the  empire  was  invoked  to  destroy;  its- 
offensiveness  to  the  national  feelings  of  Greeks  and  Romans; 
the  hostility  of  the  Samaritan  Magus,  and  the  whole  pro- 
lific brood  of  his  Gnostic  sects  for  three  centuiies,  with 
their  idealistic  and  Sadducean  creed;  the  excesses  of  the 
Phrygian  Montanns;  the  false  principles  of  the  Alexan- 
drian school;  the  delusive  charm  of  a  Church  and  State 
theory,  so  potent  and  plausible  after  two  centuries  and  a 
half  of  martyrdom;  the  splendor  of  Constantino's 
establishment;  the  open  repudiation  of  the  Apocalypse  and 
Gospel  of  John;  the  Eusebian  perversion  of  the  Old 
Testament  prophecies;  the  false  theory  of  Recapitulation ,. 
and  the  force  of  Augustine's  great  name;  the  stumbling- 
block  that  the  divine  promises  of  God  in  Christ  to  the 
Church  relate  only  to  spiritual  things,  and  to  nothing 
earthly;  the  misrepresentations  of  Jerome,  and  the  sup- 
pression and  mutilation  of  Chiliastic  authors;  the  inability 
of  the  post-Nicene  fathers,  by  reason  of  a  false  theory,  to 
reconcile  the  later  and  more  developed  eschatology  of  John 
with  the  earlier  and  less  developed  eschatology  of  the 
prophets  and  other  apostles;  the  condemnation  of  the 
martyr  faith  as  a  heresy  by  a  Roman  pope;  and  the  inter- 


400  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

pretation  of  saint- worship  as  the  reign  of  the  risen  martyrs; 
the  confounding  of  the  true  with  the  false  Chiliasm;  the 
prejudice  against  the  Jewish  people  under  the  curse,  and 
whose  future  was  seen  to  be  linked  with  that  of  the  Gentiles; 
the  abuse  of  the  visions  of  John  in  the  pages  of  the  Koran, 
•distorting  a  divine  Millennium  into  a  Mahometan  Para- 
dise; the  travesty  of  the  Millennial  doctrine  in  the  folios 
•of  the  Talmud,  and  the  corruption  of  it  in  the  leaves  of  the 
Sibylline    oracles;    the    fancies     of    the    Millennium    of 
Sosiosch  in  the  Bundehesch  and  Yendidad  of  the  Parsee 
system;  the  Platonic  cycle;    the  erroneous  chronology  of 
the  Septuagint;  the  association  with  the  Rabbinical  tradi- 
tion of  the  house  of  Elias,  a  doctor  of  the  Second  Temple; 
the  mistaking  of  the  Millennial  state  for  that  of  Eternal 
Glory;    the  want  of  discriminating  between  symbol  and 
metaphor  in  the  Apocalypse;  the  crushing  power  of  the 
mediaevalism  and    the   anathemas   of   Popery   for   twelve 
•centuries,  thundered  from  the  bosom  of  its  Satanic  carica- 
ture of  Christ's  Kingdom;  the  Manichsean  error  that  the 
•evil  principle   resides   in    matter,  the  false   spiritualizing 
exegesis  in  modern  times,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  false 
rationalizing  on  the  other;    the  conflict  of   "  Prseterist," 
" Con tinuist,"  and  "  Futurist"  interpreters;   the  prejudice 
of  dogmatical  systems,  the  miscalculations  of  time-reckon- 
ers; the  false  panics  in  history  as  to  the  end  of  the  world; 
the  injury  of  the  doctrine  by  revolutionary  sects  proclaiming 
war   against  all  human  government;    the  want  of  a  true 
conception  of  the  structure  of  the  Apocalypse,  and  of  the 
laws  of  the  prophetic  and  symbolic  utterances;  the  appli- 
cation of  Old  Testament  predictions  concerning  Israel  to  the 
spiritual  Gentile  Church;  the  general  indisposition  of  men 
to  take  any  interest  in  the  study  of  the  Kingdom,  except  the 
selfish  one  that  relates  to  their  own  personal  salvation ;  all 
these  are  only  a  part  of  the  encircling  and  mountain-like 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOCTRINE.  401 

obstacles  by  which  the  pre-millennial  doctrine  has  been 
besieged,  and  against  which  it  has  had  to  contend.  But  it 
still  lives,  instinct  with  immortal  vigor.  Like  the  olive 
tree  sung  by  Sophocles,  a  plant  of  divine  growth,  not  set 
by  human  hands,  it  still  grows  stronger  by  every  blast,  a 
plant  destructive  to  its  foes,  and  which  none  in  earlier  or 
later  times  have  been  able  to  uproot  or  destroy.  Yea, 
more,  when  we  consider  what  it  has  borne  and  suffered,  and 
how  it  has  triumphed  over  Jewish  perversion,  Imperial 
persecution,  Papal  hatred,  and  Protestant  indifference,  and 
to-day  enjoys  a  resurrection,  ascension  and  reign,  more 
glorious  than  ever  since  it  went  to  the  dungeon  and  flame, 
then  do  we  know  that  it  is  itself  a  true  child  of  the  mar- 
tyrs, whose  future  is  assured,  whose  final  victory  is  pledged, 
and  the  lustre  of  whose  truth  shall  blaze  in  the  splendor  of 
the  righteous  when  they  "  shine  forth  as  the  sun  in  the 
Kingdom  of  their  Father." 

Nor  let  it  be  objected  to  the  doctrine  of  the  personal 
reign  of  Christ  on  earth,  that  it  has  been  espoused  by  men 
who  ill  understood  the  genius  of  the  gospel,  and  that  fanat- 
ical leaders  have,  at  times,  made  it  their  watchword  and 
cry.  Deep  in  the  heart  of  sin-stricken  humanity  rests  the 
sense  of  its  oppression,  and  helplessness.  The  turning  of 
man,  maddened  by  despotic  power,  regenerate  or  unregen- 
erate,  to  the  magic  virtue  of  this  one  .and  only  hope  of 
reform,  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  on  earth,  has  been  a  tribute 
in  every  age  to  Him  who  clothed  Himself  in  human  flesh 
for  man's  deliverance.  Sounding  along  the  ages,  in  one 
form  or  other,  alike  from  the  lips  of  those  who  ill  under- 
stand and  well  understood  the  gospel,  "  Maranatha "  has 
waked  its  thrilling  echoes;  from  Daniel  in  the  lion's  den 
and  the  Hebrew  children  in  the  furnace,  to  the  days  of 
Maccabean  valor,  and  the  times  of  Judas,  the  Gaulonite, 
and  Theudas  boasting  himself  to  be  some  one.  It  has  been 
25 


402  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

humanity's  hope,  as  well  as  the  Church's  hope,  when  all 
other  hopes  have  failed;  from  martyrs  in  the  Pagan  amphi- 
theatre and  flame,  to  martyrs  marching  in  autos-da-f<£  to 
Papal  scaffolds,  faggots,  and  death;  from  Ignatius  and  Poly- 
carp  to  Olivi  and  Ubertino,  and  on  to  Latimer,  cheering 
Ridley  at  the  stake.  In  the  bosom  of  the  apostasy  itself 
this  hope  was  the  hope  that  broke  through  the  gloom  upon 
eyes  that  watched  for  the  coming  day.  It  graved  the  silver 
tablets  of  Cyril  on  Mount  Carmel.  and  sent  them  to  Rome 
presaging  the  doom  of  Antichrist,  and  the  rise  of  a  King- 
dom to  follow.  It  was  inspiration  in  the  breast  of  Cola  di 
Rienzi,  "  the  last  of  the  Tribunes/'  From  the  lonely  lamp 
of  Joachim,  the  Calabrian  Abbott,  and  the  sighs  of  Frati- 
celli  beneath  the  trees  of  the  breezy  Apennines,  on  to  the 
wild  excesses  of  the  Prophets  of  Zwickau,  the  Fifth  Mon- 
archy men  of  Cromwell's  day,  and  the  poor  Dorsetshire 
peasant,  in  Monmouth's  rebellion,  condemned  to  the  gal- 
lows and  talking  of  "  One  King  Jesus,"  the  enchantment 
of  this  hope  has  been  felt;  the  only  hope  of  a  ruined  world, 
ill  understood,  indeed,  by  some,  but  well  understood  by 
others,  to  whom  the  grace  of  faith  is  given  to  behold  in 
Christ  its  substance  and  its  sum.  Little  has  he  weighed 
the  relation  of  that  coming  Kingdom  to  the  present  crea- 
tion "groaning  and  travailing  in  pain,"  and  outstretching 
its  neck  for  deliverance,  who  objects  to  the  pre-millennial 
doctrine  because  it  has  been  embraced  in  a  distorted  form 
by  some  who  but  poorly  understood  the  gospel.  Christ  is 
the  "  Desire  of  all  nations."  If  Pagan  altars  and  victims 
and  the  unconscious  prophecies  of  heathendom  are  an  aigu- 
ment  for  the  truth  of  the  First  Advent  to  atone  for  sin, 
much  more  the  appeal  in  apostate  Christendom  to  the  Mil- 
lennial hope,  by  oppressed  humanity  driven  to  despair,  is 
an  argument  for  the  truth  of  the  Second  Advent  to  begin 
the  personal  reign  of  Christ  on  earth. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  DOGTRINE.  403 


XVII.       THE    IMPUTATION    OF    HERESY. 

And  equally  powerless  is  the  effort  to  stigmatize  the 
holders  of  this  "precious  hope,"  as  Dr.  Schaff  calls  it,  and 
"pearl  of  truth,"  as  Lange  names  it,  as  aiders  and  abettors 
of  "  heresy."  Its  advocates  have  been  among  the  holiest, 
ablest,  most  learned,  and  devoted  disciples  of  Jesus— true 
men  to  their  church — standards  in  all  ages,  and  to  accuse 
them  of  either  ignorance  or  intelligent  heresy  is  to  defame  the 
living  and  the  dead — a  Toplady  and  Newton,  a  Chalmers 
and  Bonar,  an  Alford  and  Ryle,  a  Breckenridge  and  Thomas. 
Never,  in  any  age,  in  the  long  line  of  Christian  history, 
has  the  doctrine  of  the  Pre-Millennial  Advent  of  Christ 
been  pronounced  a  "  heresy  "  except  by  Popery.  Its  dead- 
liest foe  was  not  the  Imperial  sword  under  which  it 
nourished,  luxuriant  with  missionary  fruit,  but  an  apostate 
church.  Caligula  and  Nero,  Domitian,and  Diocletian,  were 
antichiliasts,  but  more,  Damasus  and  Boniface,  liildebrand, 
Leo  X.,  the  long  list  of  Roman  Pontiffs.  The  Church  of 
Rome,  idolatrous  corrupter  of  every  truth  of  God's  word, 
and  red  with  the  blood  of  God's  saints,  was  built  on  an  anti- 
pre-millennarian  creed.  The  first  perverter  of  this  hope 
was  himself  a  heretic,  Cerinthus.  The  first  assailant  of  it 
was  Origen,  who  became  a  Universalist.  The  next  was- 
Dionysius,  who  denied  the  inspiration  and  canonicity  of 
the  Apocalypse.  The  first  official  condemnation  of  it  was- 
by  a  Roman  Pope,  swayed  by  the  influence  of  Jerome.  The 
early  misrepresenter  of  it  was  Eusebius,  an  Arian.  In 
modern  times  the  policy  of  its  Great  Enemy  has  ever  been 
to  mingle  the  false  and  the  true  together,  defame  the  names 
of  its  witnesses,  as  the  names  of  Papias,  Joachrm,  and  Twisse 
have  been  shadowed,  and,  parading  Jewish  Apocryphal 
legends,  Sibylline  Oracles,  and  Parsee  traditions,  all  which 
are  but  borrowed  and  broken  lights  of  Divine  Revelation, 


404  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

corrupted  and  distorted,  quote  the  same  as  the  fountain  and 
source  of  the  doctrine  itself!  And  prophecy  is  made  a 
Delphic  oracle  of  ambiguous  import,  and  exegesis  becomes 
like  Proteus  of  old,  ever  changing  his  countenance,  or  like 
Miciaiab  before  Ahab  tuning  her  voice  to  suit  the  times. 
I  dismiss  the  imputation  with  the  remark  that  if,  in  days 
to  come,  a  personal  antichrist  more  God-opposing  or 
blaspheming  than  him  who  sits  in  Rome,  claiming  the 
prerogatives  and  titles  of  God  and  of  Christ,  shall  arise, 
one  of  the  marks  that  will  signalize  him  as  what  the  early 
Fathers  described  him,  "  the  concentration  of  Satanic  energy 
and  hate,"  will  be  that  he  is  an  anti-pre-millennarian. 
And  just  in  proportion  as  such  time  shall  approach  will  this 
glorious  martyr-truth  revive,  as  all  history  shows,  and  to 
suffering  saints  will  it  be  given,  again,  to  witness  for  that 
same  hope  under  which  the  martyrs  of  Jesus,  comforted, 
supported,  and  strengthened,  sank  singing  to  their  tombs. 
Difficulties  there  are  in  articulating  the  various  portions 
of  Scripture.  But  the  Pre-Millennial  Advent  grounded  as 
it  is  in  an  unshakable  exegetical  foundation,  these  difficulties 
are  only  motives  to  docility,  humility,  and  prayer,  and 
incentives  to  seek  and  gather  the  mangled  and  scattered 
members  of  the  fair  form  of  Divine  Truth.  In  the  words 
of  Milton  to  the  Parliament,  "  We  have  not  yet  found  them 
all,  Lords  and  Commons!  nor  ever  shall  do,  till  her  Master's 
Second  Coming.  Then  shall  He  bring  together  every  joint 
and  member,  and  shall  mold  them  into  an  immortal  feature 
of  loveliness  and  perfection."  (Areopagitica.  Works  II.,  89.) 


DEFENCE  OF  PRE-MILLENNARIANISM.  405 


A  SUMMARY  OF  THE  AKGUMENT  IN  DEFENCE 
OF  PRE-MILLENNARIANISM. 

BY    REV.    JOHN    T.    DUFFIELD,     D.D.,     PROFESSOR    OF    MATHEMATICS  IN 
PRINCETON  COLLEGE. 

THE  Scriptures  unquestionably  teach  that  the  Lord  Jesus, 
once  on  this  earth  in  an  estate  of  humiliation,  shall  return 
again  "in  His  glory,"  and  "  the  glory  of  the  Father,  with 
His  holy  angels."  The  Scriptures  also  contain  many  pre- 
dictions yet  unfulfilled,  of  an  era  of  universal  righteousness 
and  peace  on  earth,  when  there  shall  be  "  given  to  the  Son 
of  Man  dominion,  and  glory,  and  a  kingdom,  that  all  peo- 
ple and  nations  and  languages  should  serve  Him;"  when 
"the  nations  shall  beat  their  swords  into  ploughshares  and 
their  spears  into  pruning-hooks,  and  shall  learn  war  no 
more;"  when  "  they  shall  not  teach  every  man  his  neigh- 
bor, and  every  man  his  brother,  saying:  Know  tha  Lord, 
for  all  shall  know  Him,  from  the  least  to  the  greatest;" 
when  "  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  become  (the  King- 
dom) of  our  Lord  and  of  His  Christ." 

The  question  at  issue  between  Pre-Millennarians  and 
their  brethren  is  as  to  the  order  in  which  these  two  pre- 
dicted events  shall  occur.  Will  the  universal  reign  of 
righteousness  and  peace  on  earth — from  Rev.  20:3,  com- 
monly called  "  the  Millennium" — precede  the  Advent;  or 
is  this  Messianic  Kingdom  of  prophecy  to  be  manifested 
at,  and  not  before,  "  the  glorious  appearing  of  the  great  God 
and  our  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ  ?" 

Whilst  there  are  some  predicted  events,  yet  future,  in 
regard  to  which  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  order  of 
their  occurrence  is  a  matter  of  little  or  no  practical  moment, 


406  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

the  question  as  to  the  order  of  occurrence  of  the  two  events 
just  mentioned  is  one  of  the  highest  importance,  affecting 
as  it  does  the  meaning  and  practical  influence  of  much  of 
the  Saviour's  instruction,  especially  of  that  solemn  injunc- 
tion, emphasized  by  repetition  and  illustrated  by  parable, 
with  which  He  closes  His  discourse  on  eschatology — a  dis- 
course which  occupies  a  larger  place  in  the  inspired  record 
than  any  other  of  the  recorded  discourses  of  tho  Saviour, 
not  even  excepting  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  The  order 
of  occurrence  of  the  two  events  mentioned  affects,  further, 
the  meaning  and  practical  influence  of  a  doctrine  urged  by 
the  inspired  apostles  more  frequently  and  prominently  than 
any  other,  as  an  incentive  to  holy  living  and  fidelity  in 
Christ's  service. 

It  is  with  this  conviction  of  the  importance  of  the  ques- 
tion at  issue,  we  have  met  together,  that  with  united  prayer 
for  divine  guidance,  we  may  "  hold  forth"  what  we  regard 
as  a  precious,  though  now  much  neglected,  portion  of  u  the 
Word  of  Life;"  and,  with  all  respect  for  our  brethren  who 
differ  from  us,  may  submit  for  their  serious  consideration, 
the  u  reasons  for  the  faith  wherein  we  stand." 

In  the  discharge  of  the  particular  duty  assigned  me,  of 
presenting  a  summary  of  the  argument  in  defence  of  Pre- 
Millennarianism,  permit  me  to  do  it  in  the  form  of  a  reply 
to  the  question —  Will  the  predicted  Millennial  era  of 
universal  righteousness  and  peace  on  earth,  precede  the 
Advent?  Whilst  there  are  other  questions  of  exceeding 
interest  involved  in  the  Pre-Millennarian  controversy,  the 
question  proposed  is  undoubtedly  the  main  question — I 
might  almost  say,  the  only  question  of  immediate  practical 
importance. 

In  view  of  mncli  that  has  been  said  and  written  on  the 
discussion  of  this  subject,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  remark, 
that  the  question  at  issue  is  a  purely  Scriptural  one — to  be 


DEFENCE  OF  PRE-MILLENNARIANISM.  407 

decided  solely  by  God's  word.  We  might,  indeed,  main- 
tain that  there  is  nothing  in  the  past  history  of  the  Church 
or  of  the  world,  to  justify  the  expectation  that  at  any  future 
time  the  Gospel  will  prevail  throughout  the  entire. world 
as  it  never  has  prevailed  in  any  portion  of  it.  But  we  place 
no  confidence  in  any  mere  influences  of  the  human  judg- 
ment in  regard  to  the  future.  God  undoubtedly  might 
convert  the  world  in  a  single  day.  The  question  is  not  one 
of  power,  but  of  purpose,  and  what  God's  purpose  is,  we 
•can  learn  only  by  reference  to  His  revealed  will.  Never  is 
the  wisdom  of  this  world  more  conspicuously  foolishness, 
than  when  it  seeks,  in  regard  to  the  future,  "  to  be  wise 
above  that  which  is  written."  And  especially  we  may  say, 
is  this  true,  with  respect  to  the  question  proposed.  For  the 
revelation  that  Christ  will  ever  again  return  to  this  earth, 
is  no  more  distinct,  than  is  the  revelation  that  when  He 
does  come,  it  will  be  u  at  an  hour  when  men  think  not." 
"  To  the  law,"  then,  "  and  the  testimony."  If  any,  on  this 
question,  "speak  not  according  to  God's  word,  there  is  no 
light  in  them." 

In  reply  to  the  question  proposed,  we  remark: 
1.     If  the  Millennial  era  is  to  occur  during  the  present 
Dispensation,  we  should  expect  to  find  the  Doctrine  prom- 
inent in  the  New  Testament. 

At  the  present  day  those  who  hold  the  above  doctrine  regard 
it  as  of  eminent  practical  importance,  and  continually  urge 
the  prospect  of  the  conversion  of  the  world,  and  the  intro- 
duction of  the  Millennium,  as  the  main  if  not  the  sole 
incentive  to  the  fulfillment  of  the  great  commission  given 
to  the  Church  by  her  ascending  Saviour.  So,  undoubtedly, 
would  Christ  and  the  inspired  Apostles  have  regarded  this 
doctrine,  and  so  would  they  have  proclaimed  it,  distinctly 
and  prominently,  had  they  believed  it.  What,  then,  are 
we  to  infer,  when,  throughout  the  New  Testament,  the  doc- 


408  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

trine  is  not  only  not  prominent,  but  is  not  taught — cer- 
tainly is  not  expressly  and  unequivocally  taught — in  a 
single  passage?  "We  feel  justified  in  making  the  assertion 
by  the  fact,  that  so  far  as  we  have  seen  or  heard,  the  only 
passages  of  the  New  Testament,  adduced  in  support  of  the 
doctrine,  by  its  advocates,  are  the  following:  The  Parable 
of  the  grain  of  mustard  seed,  the  Parable  of  the  leaven, 
the  Commission  given  to  the  Church,  to  ic  go  into  all  the 
world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature,"  and  the 
Saviour's  declaration,  (John  12:  32)  "And  I,  if  I  be  lifted 
up,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me."  JSTow,  without  stopping 
to  discuss  the  meaning  of  the  passages,  and  to  present — 
as  we  might — an  interpretation  of  them  entirely  consistent 
with  pre-millennarianism,  we  respectfully  ask,  do  they  teach 
the  doctrine  of  a  Millennial  era  before  the  Advent,  so 
expressly  and  unequivocally  as  to  be  decisive  of  the  ques- 
tion at  issue?  Would  they  be  so,  even  were  there  not — as- 
there  are — numerous  other  passages  of  Scripture  which 
certainly  seem  to  teach — and  that  in  express  terms — the 
very  opposite  doctrine?  Had  the  Saviour  intended  the 
Church  to  expect  the  Millennium  during  the  present  Dis- 
pensation, is  it  credible  that  He  would  have  made  no  more 
distinct  allusion  to  it  than  is  contained  (as  is  alleged)  in 
the  passages  referred  to?  Would  He  have  failed  to  assert 
it  distinctly,  when  giving  to  His  disciples  their  great  com- 
mission? Would  He  have  omitted — as  He  has  omitted — 
any  intimation  of  it,  in  His  extended  discourse  on  Escha- 
tology,  uttered  for  the  very  purpose  of  instructing  the  dis- 
ciples as  to  the  state  of  the  Church,  and  of  the  world,  dur- 
ing the  entire  period  of  the  present  Dispensation?  He 
does  predict  rt  wars  and  rumors  of  wars,  famines  and  pes- 
tilences and  earthquakes;  "  lie  does  forewarn  the  disciples 
of  the  opposition  of  the  world  to  themselves  and  their  mes- 
sage. He  foretells  corruption  in  the  Church,  that  "  iniquity 


DEFENOE  OF  PRE-MILLENNARIANISM.  409 

shall  abound,"  that  "  the  love  of  many  shall  wax  cold,"  that 
only  they  who  "  shall  endure  unto  the  end  shall  be  saved," 
adding:  "  and  this  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  shall  be  preached 
in  all  the  world,  FOR  A  WITNESS  unto  all  nations,  and  then 
shall  the  end  come"  but  not  one  word  respecting  the  Mil- 
lennium. Had  he  intended  the  Church  to  believe  what  is 
now  the  prevailing  belief  on  this  subject,  is  not  this  omis- 
sion wholly  inexplicable  ? 

But  further — and  to  this  we  call  particular  attention — 
the  advocates  of  the  common  doctrine  do  not,  so  far  as  we 
are  aware,  pretend  to  find  a  single  passage  in  its  favor  in 
the  Book  of  the  Acts,  or  in  any  of  the  Apostolical  Epis- 
tles. Now,  again  we  ask:  Is  it  credible  that  the  Apostles 
held  the  doctrine  which  now  prevails  in  the  Church,  and  yet 
in  all  their  preaching  and  their  writings,  should  make  no 
allusion  to  it?  If  this  doctrine  be,  as  many  allege,  of  par- 
amount importance,  as  an  incentive  to  missionary  effort 
now,  was  it  less  so  in  apostolic  days,  when  the  Church  was 
just  entering  on  the  fulfillment  of  her  great  commission,, 
and  the  work  of  Missions  was  the  one  work  above  all 
others  to  which  her  energies  were  to  be  specially  directed? 
As  the  Apostles  spoke  and  wrote  under  the  influence  of  the 
promised  Spirit,  of  whom  the  Saviour  said:  "He  shall 
teach  you  all  things  and  bring  to  your  remembrance  what- 
soever I  have  said  unto  you,"  is  not  their  silence  conclusive,, 
not  only  that  they  were  not  taught  the  doctrine  directly  by 
the  Spirit,  but,  also,  that  they  did  not  understand  it  to  be 
taught  by  the  Parable  of  the  grain  of  mustard  seed,  or  the 
Parable  of  the  leaven  or  the  terms  of  their  Commission,  or 
by  any  other  utterance  of  the  blessed  Saviour?  Now,  we 
respectfully  submit:  "Can  that  be  an  article  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith  which  is  nowhere  to  be  found  in  the  teaching  of 
Christ,  or  of  His  Apostles? 

2.     This  negative  argument,  which  of  itself  would  seem 


410  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

to  be  decisive  as  to  the  point  at  issue,  is  confirmed  by  the 
distinct  and  abundant  positive  teaching  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, respecting  the  present  Dispensation. 

Until  we  come  to  the  closing  chapters  of  the  Apocalypse, 
the  Church  is  uniformly  represented  as  the  Church  mili- 
tant— not  the  Church  triiimphant.  The  antagonism  of  the 
Church  and  the  world,  the  elect  and  the  great  mass  of  man- 
kind, is  asserted  or  assumed  on  every  pnge.  The  Gospel 
was,  indeed,  to  be  preached  among  all  nations — not  with 
the  assurance  or  intimation  that  the  world  would  thereby 
be  converted,  but  "for  a  witness  unto  all  nations."  Matt. 
24:  14.  The  last  recorded  utterance  of  the  Saviour  ere  He 
ascended  into  heaven  was  the  declaration  of  His  disciples, 
"  Ye  shall  ~be  witnesses  unto  Me  in  Jerusalem,  and  in  all 
Judea,  and  in  Samaria,  and  unto  the  uttermost  part  of  the 
earth."  Acts  1:8.  God  is  visiting  the  Gentiles  to  "take 
.out  of  them  a  people  for  His  name."  Acts  15:14.  This 
idea  as  to  the  purpose  for  which  the  Gospel  is  to  be 
preached  to  all  is  signalized  by  the  very  name  by  which 
the  people  of  God  are  designated.  The  Church  is  the 
"enKtyaia" — the  " called  out"  from  the  mass  of  mankind — 
the  "  redeemed  out  of  every  kindred,  and  tongue,  and  peo- 
ple, and  nation."  "  Many  shall  be  called,  but  few  chosen." 
To  illustrate  and  enforce  this  very  truth,  three  notable  par- 
ables were  uttered  by  the  Saviour,  and  to  emphasize  their 
importance  and  prevent  the  possibility  of  misapprehension 
as  to  their  meaning,  their  interpretation  was  given  to  the 
disciples  and  recorded  in  minute  detail  for  the  instruction 
of  the  Church  throughout  the  New  Testament  dispensation. 
Only  a  portion  of  the  seed  of  Gospel  truth  falls  **  on  good 
ground" — the  rest  on  "  the  wayside,"  "on  stony  places," 
and  "  among  thorns."  The  visible  Church  is  as  "a  net  cast 
into  the  sea,"  it  may  inclose  "  a  great  multitude  of  fishes," 
but  not  all;  and  of  those  that  are  gathered  in  there  are 


DEFENCE  OF  PRE-MILLENNARIANISM.  411 

"  bad,"  as  well  as  "  good."  There  are  tares  among  the 
wheat — "the  children  of  the  wicked  one"  among  "the 
children  of  the  Kingdom," — both  are  "to  grow  together 
until  the  harvest,"  and  "  the  harvest  is  the  end  of  the  world" 
"  This  world  " — "  this  present  evil  world  "  —world,  not  as 
denoting  the  great  mass  of  the  unregenerate,  but  "  this 
duv,"  or  dispensation  — "  this  present  evil  aiuv  " —  is  con- 
trasted with  "the  alto pftJ*n>" — "  the  world  to  come"^and 
"the  Prince,"  and  "  the  God  "  of  Ms  world,  is  not  Christ^ 
but  Satan.  "  We  see  not  yet  all  things  put  under  Christ." 
It  is  "  the  world  to  come  "  that  is  to  be  in  subjection  to 
Him.  Now,  the  Christian  life  is  a  warfare,  and  the  world 
and  Satan,  as  well  as  the  flesh,  are  enemies.  We  are 
exhorted  to  "  clothe  ourselves  in  the  armor  of  God,  that 
we  may  be  able  to  withstand  the  wiles  of  the  devil."  Is 
there  any  intimation  in  God's  word,  that  at  any  period  of 
the  present  dispensation,  this  and  similar  representations 
with  which  the  New  Testament  abounds,  are  to  become 
obsolete?  And  yet,  will  not  this  be  so,  if  for  a  thousand 
years  before  the  Advent,  Satan  is  to  be  "  bound  and  cast 
into  the  bottomless  pit,  that  he  go  not  forth  to  deceive  the 
nations?"  Is  there  any  intimation  in  the  New  Testament 
that  at  any  period  of  this  dispensation,  the  commission  to 
"teach  all  nations,"  is  to  become  obsolete?  And  yet,  will 
not  this  be  so,  if,  before  the  Advent,  there  is  to  be  an  era 
when  "they  shall  not  teach  every  nlan  his  neighbor,  and 
every  man  his  brother,  saying,  Know  the  Lord,  for  all  shall 
know  Him,  from  the  least  to  the  greatest?"  In  the  sec- 
ond Epistle  to  the  Thessalonians,  2d  chapter,  Paul  foretells 
what  would  occur  before  the  Advent,  and  he  mentions,  not 
the  Millennium,  but  an  apostasy.  "  That  day  shall  not 
come  except  there  be  a  falling  away  first,  and  the  man  of 
sin  be  revealed;"  and  as  if  to  exclude  the  idea  of  the  Mil± 
lennium  intervening,  he  adds:  "Whom  the  Lord  shall 


412  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

destroy  with  the  brightness  of  His  coming"  the  Epiphany 
of  His  Parouisa — terms  which,  throughout  the  New  Test- 
ament, are  specially  appropriated  to  designate  the  personal 
Advent  of  the  Lord,  when  He  shall  come  again  "  in  His 
glory." 

These  references  to  the  positive  teaching  of  the  New 
Testament  respecting  the  present  dispensation  might  be 
entended  indefinitely.  But  it  is  needless.  If  the  question 
at  issue  is  to  be  determined  by  the  authority  of  God's 
word,  do  not  the  passages  above  referred  to  furnish  a  dem- 
onstration of  the  pre-millennarian  faith,  which  can  not  be 
successfully  gainsaid  or  resisted? 

3.  Whilst  the  New  Testament  makes  no  allusion  to  a 
universal  reign  of  righteousness  before  the  Advent,  the 
Advent  itself  is  repeatedly,  prominently  referred  to,  and 
as  an  event  ever  imminent — the  great  object  of  the  Chris- 
tian's desire  and  expectation. 

As  Christ's  "  appearing  and  His  Kingdom  "  are  in  the 
New  Testament  conjoined,  He  has  made  the  desire  for  His 
"appearing"  part  of  the  first  petition  of  our  daily  prayer. 
That  His  followers  might  have  it  ever  in  view,  He  reminds 
them  of  it  in  every  administration  of  that  Holy  Sacrament 
in  which  we  "  do  show  the  Lord's  death  until  He  comes" 
u  Paul  in  all  his  Epistles  speaketh  of  these  things."  (2  Peter 
3:16.)  Peter  speaks  of  it  again  and  again  in  his  first 
Epistle,  and  then  makes  it  the  one  theme  of  a  second  Epis- 
tle. James  and  John,  and  even  Jude  in  his  brief  Epistle, 
holds  it  prominently  forth.  The  Apocalypse  opens  with 
the  announcement,  "  Behold  He  Cometh;"  and  closes  with 
the  declaration  of  Christ  Himself,  "  Surely  I  come  quickly -," 
and  the  responsive  prayer  of  the  beloved  disciple,  the  last 
utterance  of  the  breath  of  inspiration,  "  Amen.  Even  so, 
come  Lqrd  Jesus. 

Not  only  is  "  this  blessed  hope  "  thus  prominent,  but  no 


DEFENCE  OF  PRE-MILLENNARIANISM.  413 

other  truth  of  our  holy  religion  is  more  frequently  urged 
as  an  incentive  .to  holiness,  to  patience  under  suffering,  to 
steadfastness  in  the  faith,  to  vigilance  and  fidelity  in  Christ's 
service.  "The  day  is  at  hand,  let  us,  therefore,  cast  off  the 
works  of  darkness  and  put  on  the  armor  of  light."  (Rom. 
13:12.)  "Be  patient,  brethren,  the  coming  of  the  Lord 
draweth  nigh."  ( Jas.  5 :  7.)  *'  The  end  of  all  things  is  at  hand, 
Be  ye  therefore  sober  and  watch  unto  prayer."  (1  Pet.  4:  7.) 
"  The  day  of  the  Lord  cometh  as  a  thief  in  the  night,  there- 
fore, let  us  watch  and  be  sober."  (1  Thess.  5:  2,  6.) 

It  should  be  observed  that  the  point  of  these  inspired 
exhortations,  and  of  other  similar  passages  that  might  be 
quoted,  is  not  the  mere  fact  or  certainty  of  the  Advent, 
but  its  possible  nearness,  that  for  aught  that  was  revealed, 
it  might  occur  in  their  day. 

Now,  is  this  the  language  of  men  who  believed  that  a 
millennium  was  to  intervene  before  the  Advent?  Had  such 
been  their  faith,  could  they  have  uttered  such  exhortations? 
Pre-millennarians  express  their  distinctive  faith  in  the  very 
language  of  the  inspired  Apostles.  Could  they  do  so  if 
the  inspired  Apostles  were  not  pre-millennarians? 

And  here,  without  subjecting  ourselves  to  the  charge  of 
uncharitableness,  may  we  not  be  permitted  to  ask,  do  our 
post-millennarian  brethren  treat  the  doctrine  of  the  Advent 
as  the  Apostles  treated  it?  Are  they  heard  proclaiming, 
with  the  emphasis,  and  frequency,  and  urgency,  with  which 
the  Apostles  proclaimed  it:  "  The  coming  of  the  Lord 
draweth  nigh!"  "The  day  of  the  Lord  is  at  handf" 
Does  "  the  glorious  appearing,"  and  the  possible  nearness 
of  it,  occupy  that  prominent  place  in  the  teaching  and  the 
experience  of  the  church  at  the  present  day,  which,  beyond 
all  question,  those  precious  truths  do  occupy  in  the  inspired 
word?  Or  has  not  the  expectation  of  the  conversion  of 
the  world  and  the  millennium  before  the  Advent,  thrust 


414  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

into  the  back  ground,  and  crowded  almost  entirely  out  of 
view,  and  of  influence,  the  Apostolic  doctrine  and  Apostolic 
exhortations  respecting  "  the  glorious  appearing?" 

In  probably  the  ablest  work  which  has  been  written  in 
defence  of  the  common  opinion,  Dr.  Brown,  with  com- 
mendable candor,  says,  "Pre-millennialists  have  done  the 
Church  a  service  by  calling  attention  to  the  place  which  the 
Second  Advent  holds  in  the  Word  of  God  and  the  scheme 
of  divine  truth.  When  they  dilate  upon  the  prominence 
given  to  this  doctrine  in  the  Scriptures,  and  the  practical 
uses  which  are  there  made  of  it,  they  touch  a  chord  in  the 
heart  of  every  lover  of  the  Lord,  and  carry  conviction  to 
all  who  tremble  at  His  word.  With  them  we  affirm,  that 
THE  REDEEMER'S  SECOND  APPEARING  is  THE  VERY  POLE-STAR 
OF  THE  CHURCH.  That  it  is  so  set  forth  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  beyond  all  dispute."  He  subsequently  adds,  "  If 
Christ's  Second  Appearing,  instead  of  being  full  in  the 
view  of  the  Church,  is  shifted  into  the  background,  while 
other  anticipations  are  advanced  into  its  room,  which, 
though  themselves  Scriptural,  do  not  occupy  in  the  Scrip- 
tures the  place  which  we  assign  them,  are  we  trembling  at 
the  authority  and  wisdom  of  God  in  His  Word,  or  are 
we  not  rather  leaning  on  our  own  understanding? 

In  view  of  such  declarations  by  one  of  the  most  eminent 
defenders  of  the  common  doctrine — whose  Biblical  scholar- 
ship none  will  call  in  question — are  we  not  justified  in  saying, 
that  when  any  presume  to  denounce  pre-millennarianism, 
as  many  do,  as  a  wholly  unscriptural  and  hurtful  delusion, 
they  but  make  manifest  that  they  have  never  given  to  the 
subject,  calm,  dispassionate,  and  unprejudiced  consideration? 
4.  The  doctrine  of  a  millennium  before  the  Advent  is 
inconsistent  with  the  Saviour's  solemn  injunction,  five  times 
repeated  in  the  Gospel  record,  and  illustrated  and  enforced 
again  and  again  by  parable,  "  Watch,  for  in  such  an  hour 


DEFENCE  OF  PREMILLENNARIANISM.  415 

as  ye  think  not  the  Son  of  Man  cometh"  (Matt.  24:42; 
25:13.  Mark  13:33,  35.  Luke  21:36.)  "And  what  1 
say  unto  you  I  say  unto  all,  watch"  (Mark  13:  37.) 

The  coming  here  referred  to  is  described  in  the  context 
as  "  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man  in  the  clouds  of  heaven 
with  power  and  great  glory" 

Now,  the  point  to  which  we  would  direct  attention  is, 
that  the  duty  here  enjoined  is  not  simply  that  of  believing 
that  the  Lord  will  certainly  come  again  at  some  time  in  the 
distant  future — it  is  that  of  watching  for  His  coming  as 
an  event  ever  imminent.  Watching  for  the  occurrence  of 
an  expected  event,  and  believing  that  an  event  will  occur 
after  a  long  interval  of  time,  are  two  entirely  different 
states  of  mind.  Now,  can  we  believe  that  when  the  Lord 
enjoined  the  former,  He  intended  to  enjoin  the  latter? 
Further,  the  reason  annexed  to  the  injunction  determines 
its  meaning  beyond  the  possibility  of  excusable  misappre- 
hension. We  are  to  do  what  is  here  commanded  because 
we  "  Know  not  the  hour  when  the  Son  of  Man  cometh." 
The  duty  has  respect,  not  to  the  certainty  of  the  event,  but 
to  the  uncertainty  as  to  the  time  of  its  occurrence. 

If  watching  with  expectation  as  for  an  imminent  event 
be  the  duty  enjoined,  the  force  of  the  reason  annexed  is 
evident.  On  the  other  hand,  if  believing  in  the  certainty 
of  the  event  is  what  is  intended,  is  not  the  reason  annexed 
wholly  irrelevant?  Is  it  credible  that  the  Saviour  meant 
to  enjoin,  "  Believe  that  I  shall  certainly  come  again  in  the 
distant  future,  after  the  conversion  of  the  world  and  one  of 
universal  righteousness  on  earth,  for  ye  know  not  the  hour 
when  the  Son  of  Man  cometh?" 

So  also  would  the  accompanying  parables  be  wholly 
irrelevant,  if  the  Coming  of  the  Lord  is  not  to  be  regarded 
as  an  event  ever  imminent.  "  If  the  good  man  of  the  house 
had  known  in  what  watch  the  thief  would  come,  he  would 


416  SECOND  COMING  OF  C HEIST. 

have  watched.''  We  are  to  be  expecting  the  Lord's  Coming 
as  the  virgins  the  coming  of  the  bridegroom,  as  servants 
the  return  of  their  master,  not  knowing  whether  he  would 
•come  at  "  even,  or  at  midnight,  or  at  cock-crowing,  or  in 
the  morning."  The  offence  of  "  the  evil  servant "  was  not 
that  he  denied  or  doubted  the  certainty  of  the  Master's 
return — that  he  acknowledges  in  the  very  language  attrib- 
uted to  him.  His  offence  was  "  saying  in  his  heart  " — what 
many  of  the  Lord's  servants  nowadays  say  with  their  lips, 
and  even  insist  on  as  an  article  of  faith  —  "My  lord 
delayeth  his  coming." 

In  view  of  the  unequivocal  language  in  which  the  injunc- 
tion is  expressed,  the  reason  annexed  to  it,  and  the  parables 
which  accompany  it,  is  any  other  interpretation  possible, 
than  that  given  in  our  Westminster  Confession,  Chap. 
XXXIII.,  Sec.  3—"  Christ  will  have  that  day  unknown  to 
men  that  they  may  shake  off  all  carnal  security,  and  be 
always  watchful  because  they  know  not  at  what  hour  the 
Lord  will  come?"  And  if  this  be  its  meaning,  is  it  not 
inconsistent  with  the  doctrine  that  the  millennium  is  to 
intervene  before  the  Advent? 

5.  The  doctrine  is  also  inconsistent  with  the  repeated  and 
explicit  teaching  of  the  New  Testament,  that  the  manifest- 
ation of  the  Messianic  Kingdom  and  the  Second  Advent 
are  to  be  synchronous  events.  (Luke  19:12-27.)  "He 
spake  a  parable  because  they  were  nigh  unto  Jerusalem, 
and  because  they  thought  that  the  Kingdom  of  God  should 
immediately  appear.  He  said,  therefore,  A  certain  noble- 
man went  into  a  far  country  to  receive  for  himself  a 
kingdom  and  to  return.  And  when  he  was  returned, 
having  received  the  kingdom,"  etc.  We  are  here  taught 
two  things — first,  that  the  disciples  were  not  in  error  in 
expecting  a  kingdom  to  be  manifested  here  on  the  earth^ 
under  the  personal  reign  of  the  Messiah.  Their  error  was 


DEFENCE  OF  PRE-MILLENNAEIANISM.  417 

as  to  the  time  of  the  manifestation.  The  correction  of 
their  error  as  to  the  time,  is  an  implied  acknowledgment 
that  their  expectation  was  correct  as  to  the  fact.  Secondly, 
we  are  expressly  taught  that  the  Kingdom  which  Christ 
has  gone  into  the  heavens  to  receive  of  the  Father,  is  to  be 
manifested  at,  and  not  before,  His  return  again  to  this  earth. 

Luke  21:24-31 — The  Saviour  here  predicts  events  that 
are  to  immediately  precede  the  Advent — "  signs  in  the  sun 
and  moon  and  in  the  stars,  and  upon  the  earth  distress  of 
nations  with  perplexity — and  then  shall  they  see  the  Son  of 
man  coming  in  a  cloud  with  power  and  great  glory.  And 
He  spake  a  parable,  Behold  the  fig  tree  and  all  the  trees, 
when  they  now  shoot  forth  ye  see  and  know  that  Summer 
is  nigh  at  hand.  So  likewise  when  ye  see  these  things 
•come  to  pass,  know  ye  that  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  nigh 
at  hand."  The  coming  of  the  Son  of  man,  and  the  King- 
dom of  God,  are  here  assumed  to  be  synchronous  events — 
with  respect  to  the  time  of  their  occurrence,  the  ono  is 
referred  to  as  identical  with  the  other. 

Again,  Acts  3:19-21 — "Repent  and  be  converted,  that 
your  sins  may  be  blotted  out  when  the  times  of  refreshing 
shall  come  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord;  and  He  shall 
send  Jesus  Christ,  whom  the  heavens  must  receive  UNTIL 
the  time  of  restitution  of  all  things  which  God  hath  spoken 
by  the  mouth  of  all  His  holy  prophets  since  the  world 
began."  That  the  expressions,  "  the  times  of  refreshing," 
"  the  times  of  restitution  of  all  things,  refer  to  the  Messianic 
kingdom  predicted  by  all  the  Old  Testament  prophets  is 
not,  so  far  as  we  are  aware, -called  in  question.  We  have 
here,  then,  an  inspired  declaration  upon  the  very  point  at 
issue,  so  explicit  that  we  might  have  supposed  it  would 
have  been  regarded  as  decisive.  Yet,  to  avoid  its  force,  the 
advocates  of  the  common  theory  (see  Dr.  Brown,  Dr.  Alex- 
ander, Mr.  Barnes,  and  others)  maintain  that  by  the  words 
27 


418  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

"  until  the  times  of  restitution,"  we  are  to  understand 
until  the  times  of  restitution  are  fulfilled  or  ended.  That 
is,  if  the  apostle  had  declared  that  Christ  should  not  come 
until  the  nineteenth  century!  he  would  have  meant  until 
the  nineteenth  century  had  been  "  completed  " — that  is,  until 
the  twentieth  century.  For  an  interpretation  so  unnatural 
what  other  reason  can  be  assigned  than  the  exigency  of  an 
erroneous  theory?  In  the  passage  quoted  above  from  Luke 
21,  when  the  Saviour  wished  to  teach  that  Jerusalem  should 
be  trodden  down  until  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  were 
fulfilled,  he  said  so.  Why  should  not  Peter  have  said  so- 
here  if  he  had  intended  to  express  the  same  idea? 

Again,  2  Tim.  4: 1 — "  I  charge  thee  before  God  and  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  shall  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead 
at  His  appearing  and  His  kingdom." 

Again,  Kev.  11: 15-18 — "And  the  seventh  angel  sounded; 
and  there  were  great  voices  in  the  heaven  saying,  The 
kingdoms  of  this  world  are  become  (the  kingdoms)  of  our 
Lord  and  of  His  Christ,  and  He  shall  reign  forever  and 
ever.  And  the  nations  were  angry,  and  Thy  wrath  is  come, 
and  the  time  of  the  dead  that  they  should  be  judged, 
and  that  Thou  shouldst  give  reward  unto  Thy  servants  the 
prophets,  and  to  Thy  saints,  and  to  them  that  fear  Thy 
name,  small  and  great,  and  shouldst  destroy  them  which 
destroy  the  earth."  Now,  there  are  undoubtedly  many 
things  in  the  Apocalypse,  as  in  the  other  Scriptures,  "  hard 
to  be  understood,"  but  unless  the  title  of  this  book  be 
altogether  a  misnomer,  we  are  here  taught  that  when 
Christ  shall  come  to  judge  the.  world,  then,  and  not  before, 
"  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  become  the  kingdom 
of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ." 

6.  That  we  have  not  misapprehended  the  New  Testa- 
ment doctrine  respecting  the  Millennium  is  confirmed — 
were  confirmation  necessary — by  the  fact  that  the  Apostolic 


DEFENCE  OF  PRE-MILLENNARIANISM.  419 

Church  understood  the  Apostles  to  teach  that  the  Second 
Coming  of  the  Lord  was  an  event  ever  imminent. 

They  accordingly  "looked  for"  the  Advent  with  longing 
desire  and  expectation — not  (as  many  misapprehend  and 
misrepresent  the  doctrine  of  the  Apostolic  Church  on  this 
subject)  with  expectation  that  the  Advent  would  certainly 
occur  in  their  day,  but,  that  for  aught  that  was  revealed, 
it  might  occur  in  their  day.  The  Corinthian  Christians  are 
commended  by  Paul,  in  that  they  "came  behind  in  no 
gift,  waiting  for  the  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 
(1  Cor.  1:5.)  The  conversion  of  the  Thessalonians  from 
heathenism  to  Christianity  is  described  as  "  turning  from 
idols  to  serve  the  living  and  the  true  God,  and  to  wait  for 
His  Son  from  heaven."  (1  Thess.  1 : 10.)  So  common  was 
this  expectation  in  the  Apostolic  Church,  that  Christians 
were  designated  by  this  characteristic  of  their  piety. 
"  Unto  them  that  look  for  Him  shall  He  appear  the  second 
time  without  sin  unto  salvation."  (Heb.  9:28.)  "There 
is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness  which  the  Lord, 
the  righteous  Judge,  shall  give  me  in  that  day;  and  not  to 
me  only,  but  unto  all  them  that  love  His  appearing"  (2 
Tim.*4:8.)  See  also  Kom.  8:19-23;  Phil.  3:20;  1  Thess. 
4:15;  5:10;  Titus  2:13;  2  Peter  3:11-13. 

In  his  commentary  on  1  Cor.  1 :  7,  Dr.  Hodge  remarks: 
"  The  second  advent  of  Christ,  so  clearly  predicted  by 
Himself  and  His  Apostles,  was  the  object  of  longing 
expectation  to  all  the  early  Christians.  So  general  was 
this  expectation,  that  Christians  were  characterized  as  those 
4  who  love  His  appearing' — as  those  '  who  wait  for  Him.'  " 
Mr.  Barnes,  on  the  same  passage,  remarks:  "The  earnest 
expectation  of  the  Lord  Jesus  became  one  of  the  marks  of 
early  Christian  piety."  In  Lange's  commentary  on  the 
same  passage  it  is  said:  "This  constant  expectation  of  our 
Lord's  Second  Coming  is  one  of  the 


420  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

of  primitive  Christianity;  hence  the  clause  has  been  taken 
as  a  simple  paraphrase  of  the  word  Christians."  In  Cony- 
beare  and  Howson's  Life  of  St.  Paul,  (Yol.  I,  p.  401,  Amer. 
ed.)  it  is  said:  "  The  early  Church,  and  even  the  Apostles 
themselves,  expected  the  Lord  to  come  again  in  that  very 
generation.  St.  Paul  himself  shared  in  that  expectation." 

In  his  recent  work  on  u  The  Beginning  of  Christianity," 
Professor  Fisher — who  is  not  a  Pre-Millennarian — says: 
"  This  expectation  (of  the  personal  Coming  of  the  Lord)  is 
expressed  by  all  the  Apostles  in  terms  which  fairly  admit 
of  no  other  interpretation.  It  is  found  in  Paul,  Rom. 
13:11,12;  1  Cor.  7:29,  31;  10: 11;  Phil.  4: 5;  1  Tim.  6:14. 
The  same  expectation  is  expressed  in  Heb.  10:25;  Jas. 
5:3,8;  1  Pet.  4:7;  2  Pet.  3:3;  Jude,  verse  18;  1  John 
2:18;  and  in  the  Apocalypse  1 : 1 ;  3:11;  22:7,22,20.  To 
put  any  other  construction  on  these  passages,  as  if  the 
Parousia,  to  which  they  refer  were  anything  else  than  the 
Second  Advent  of  the  Lord  to  judgment,  would  introduce 
a  dangerous  license  in  interpretation,  and  one  which  might 
be  employed  to  subvert  the  principal  doctrines  of  the 
Christian  system." 

Without  extending  these  references  to  authorities — as  we 
might — it  may  be  regarded  as  an  acknowledged  historical 
fact  that,  on  the  main  point  at  issue  between  Pre-Millenna- 
rians  and  their  brethren,  the  Apostolic  Church  was  Pre- 
Millennarian.  The  question  under  discussion,  therefore, 
resolves  itself  into  this:  Was  the  Apostolic  Church  in  error 
on  this  subject?  If  the  question  were  as  to  the  meaning  of 
some  obscure  and  comparatively  unimportant  passage  of  the 
New  Testament,  the  interpretation  of  the  Apostolic  Church 
might  not  be  regarded  as  authoritative  and  final.  But  when 
the  question  has  reference  to  a  doctrine  repeatedly  and 
prominently  presented  by  both  Christ  and  the  Apostles — 
presented,  too,  as  a  matter  of  the  highest  practical  moment 


DEFENCE  OF  PRE-MILLENNARIANISM.  421 

and  in  terms,  moreover,  which  imply  that  the  subject  was 
familiarly  known  and  well  understood — is  it  not  simply 
incredible,  that  after  all,  not  merely  here  and  there  an 
ignorant  believer,  but  that  the  whole  body  of  believers — 
the  Church  in  which  dwells  the  promised  Spirit  as  a  guide 
to  truth — should  have  entirely  misapprehended  the  meaning 
of  their  inspired  teachers,  and  have  been,  not  merely  in 
doubt,  but  in  positive  error,  as  to  the  duty  to  which  they 
were  exhorted?  Is  it  credible  that  a  doctrine  which  unin- 
spired men  at  the  present  day  have  no  difficulty  in  stating 
in  terms  that  can  not  be  misunderstood,  those  holy  men, 
who  spake  and  wrote  "as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,"  not  only  failed  to  teach  intelligibly,  but  even  com- 
mended the  misapprehension  of  those  who  were  led  into 
error  by  their  teaching?  Or,  if  we  accept  the  inevitable 
conclusion  that  the  inspired  Apostles  did  not  teach  this 
doctrine,  by  what  authority  do  any  teach  it  now? 

7.  The  doctrine  of  the  Pre-Millennial  Advent  con- 
tinued to  be  the  unquestioned  faith  of  the  Church  until 
near  the  dose  of  the  third  century — that  is,  until  the  time 
of  Origen.  He  taught  that  "  the  Scriptures  are  of  little 
use  if  we  understand  them  as  they  are  written;"  and,  with 
reference  to  his  allegorizing — now  called  spiritualizing — 
method  of  interpretation,  Milner  says:  "No  man,  not 
altogether  unsound  and  hypocritical,  ever  injured  the  Church 
more  than  Origen  did." 

In  proof  of  our  main  statement  above,  the  following 
authorities  may  suffice: 

Mosheim  says:  "  The  prevailing  opinion  that  Christ  was 
to  come  and  reign  a  thousand  years  among  men  before  the 
final  dissolution  of  the  world,  had  met  with  no  opposition 
previous  to  the  time  of  Origen." 

Gieseler  says :  "  In  all  the  works  of  this  period  (the  first 
two  centuries)  Millenarianism  is  so  prominent  that  we  can 


SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


not  hesitate  to  consider  it  as  universal."  Hagenbach 
qualifies  this  statement  of  Gieseler  by  mentioning  certain 
Fathers  of  this  period  whose  writings  contain  no  reference 
to  the  Millennium,  but  neither  Hagenbach  or  any  other 
Church  historian  refers  to  any  expression  opposed  to  Mil- 
Jennarianism  in  the  writings  of  any,  of  the  Fathers  before 
Origen. 

Ohillingworth,  with  his  characteristic  invulnerable  logic, 
argues  :  "  Whatever  doctrine  is  believed  and  taught  by 
the  most  eminent  Fathers  of  any  age  of  the  Church,  and 
by  none  of  their  cotemporaries  opposed  or  condemned,  that 
is  to  be  esteemed  the  catholic  doctrine  of  the  Church  of 
those  times.  But  the  doctrine  of  the  Millennaries  was 
believed  and  taught  by  the  most  eminent  Fathers  of  the 
age  next  after  the  Apostles,  and  by  none  of  that  age 
opposed  or  condemned;  therefore,  it  was  the  catholic  doc- 
trine of  those  times." 

Stackhouse,  in  his  "  Complete  Body  of  Divinity,"  says: 
"  It  can  not  be  denied  but  that  this  doctrine  (millennarian- 
ism)  has  its  antiquity,  and  was  once  the  general  opinion  of 
all  orthodox  Christians" 

Bishop  Newton  says:  "  The  doctrine  of  the  Millennium 
(as  held  by  Millennarians)  was  generally  believed  in  the 
three  first  and  purest  ages." 

Bishop  Russell,  though  an  anti  -  Millennarian,  says: 
"  Down  to  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century,  the  belief 
was  universal  and  undisputed." 

Gibbon,  who  is  at  least  an  unprejudiced  witness,  says: 
"The  ancient  and  popular  doctrine  of  the  Millennium  was 
carefully  inculcated  by  a  succe&sion  of  Fathers  from  Justin 
Martyr  and  Irenseus,  who  conversed  with  the  immediate 
disciples  of  the  Apostles,  down  to  Lactantius,  who  was  the 
preceptor  of  the  son  of  Constantine.  It  appears  to  have 
been  the  reigning  sentiment  of  orthodox  believers"  He 


IWF3NCJB  OF  PRBWLLBNirJLRIANISM* 

adds :     -  A  -  long  as  this  error  (as  he  calls  it)  was  permitted 
to  subsist  in   die  Church,  it  was  productive  of  the  most 
A7,V«7"y  fjv.  ?><  on  I  ho  faith  and  practice  of  Christians." 
x  >t  to  needlessly  extend  this  list  of  authorities,  we  would 

add  the  testimony  of  NY  hitby,  the  father  of  the  modern 

nillennariau  theory.  In  his  "  Treatise  on  Tradition  " 
he  candidly  acknowledges,  i%  The  doctrine  of  die  millennium 
passed  among  the  best  of  Christians,  for  two  hundred  and 

years,  as  a  tradition  apostolical, and  as  such  is  delivered 
by  iriany  fathers  of  the  second  and  third  centuries,  who 
speak  of  it  as  a  tniditwn  of  our  Lord  and  ffis  J#o$tk$, 
<wd  ofatt  M*  ancwute  *cA<>  lived  otfbr*  them,  who  tell  us 
the  very  words  in  which  it  was  delivered,  the  Scriptures 
iterpreted,  and  say  that  it  wot  KM  by  all 
Christian*  Mot  toer*  «mc#y  ortAodox." 

8, -The  common  doctrine  respecting  the  Millennium  is 
«  notWty  in  th*  history  of  th*  okwrek  It  is  not  to  be 
found  in  the  standards  of  any  of  the  churches  of  the  Refor- 
mation— by  several  it  is  impliedly  repudiated.  The  same 

he  said  of  the  writings  of  the  Reformers.  The  doctrine 
was  first  proposed  by  Whitby,  but  little  more  than  150 
years  ago,  and  avowedly  as  **  a  New  Hypothesis." 

Ki>;.-iv:in£  the  Millennium,  the  prevalent  doctrine  in  the 
churches  of  the  Reformation — though  by  no  means  univer- 
sally accepted— was  that  held  by  die  Romish  Church,  that 
M*  Jfittwnium  had  already  occurred — some  dating  its 

commencement    from    the   birth  of  Christ,  others  from  the 
day  of  Pentecost,  others  from  the  destruction  of  .lornsalein. 
others  from  the  conversion  of  Constantino.      Th 
held  this  opinion  differed  from  the  Pre-millennarians  on  the 
comparatively  unimportant  question  respecting  the  events 
to  occur  subsequent  to  the  Ad\  cut,  but  on  the  main  question 
— the  only  question  of  immediate  practical  imports: 
that  now  under  discussion — they  were  in  entire  accord  with 
the  Pre-millennarians. 


424  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

The  language  in  which  several  of  the  Confessions  condemn 
the  Anabaptist  heresy,  is  inconsistent  with  the  idea  of  a 
Millennial  era  before  the  Advent.  The  Augsburg  Confes- 
sion condemns  those  "  who  spread  abroad  Jewish  opinions,, 
that  before  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  the  godly  shall 
get  the  sovereignty  of  the  world  and  the  wicked  be  brought 
under  in  every  place."  The  later  Confession  of  Helvetia 
"  condemns  the  Jewish  dreams  that  before  the  judgment 
there  shall  be  a  golden  world  in  the  earth,  and  that  the 
godly  shall  possess  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  their  wicked 
enemies  being  trodden  under  foot." 

As  to  the  Westminster  Confession,  a  recent  writer  in 
defence  of  the  common  doctrine  says,  "  the  only  recogni- 
tion we  find  anywhere  in  the  Standards  (of  the  Presbyterian 
Church)  is  that  in  the  Answer  of  the  Larger  Catechism  to 
the  Question,  '  What  do  we  pray  for  in  the  second  petition 
of  the  Lord's  prayer?'  It  is  said  among  other  things  that 
we  pray,  that  '  the  Gospel  may  be  propagated  throughout 
the  world,  the  Jews  called,  and  the  fullness  of  the  Gentiles 
brought  in.'  "  Now,  is  there  anything  in  this  language 
inconsistent  with  Pre-millennarianism?  Taken  in  connec- 
tion with  the  language  quoted  above  from  the  Westminster 
Confession — that  "  Christ  will  have  the  day  of  His  coming 
unknown  to  men  that  they  may  be  ever  watchful " — is  it 
not  just  such  a  recognition  of  a  Millennium  before  the- 
Advent,  as  we  should  expect  to  find  in  Standards  framed 
by  an  Assembly,  of  which  Baillie,,one  of  the  Commission- 
ers from  Scotland,  and  an  Anti-Millennarian,  writes,  "  The 
most  of  the  chief  divines  here,  not  only  Independents,  but 
others,  such  as  Twisse  (the  Moderator),  Marshall,  Palmery 
and  others,  are  express  Chiliasts."  As  the  question  haa 
recently  been  gravely — we  can  scarcely  say,  seriously — 
raised,  whether  Pre-millennarians  shall  be  tolerated  in  the- 
Presbyterian  Church?  we  may  be  permitted  to  suggest  that 


DEFENCE  OF  PRE-MILLENNARIANISM.  425 

the  discussion  may  be  materially  abridged  by  stating  the 
question  in  the  following  form:  Shall  a  doctrine  which  was 
held  by  most  of  the  eminent  divines  of  the  Westminster 
Assembly,  including  the  Moderator,  be  tolerated  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church? 

As  to  the  views  of  the  Reformers: 

Luther,  in  his  commentary  on  John  10: 16,  says:  "  Some 
say  that  before  the  latter  day  the  whole  world  shall  become 
Christians.  This  is  a  falsehood  forged  by  Satan,  that  he 
might  darken  sound  doctrine.  Beware  of  the  delusion." 

Again  he  says :  "  I  believe  that  all  the  signs  which  are 
to  precede  the  last  day  have  already  happened,"  "Let  u& 
not  think  that  the  Coming  of  Christ  is  far  off;  let  us  look 
up  with  heads  lifted  up;  let  us  expect  our  Redeemer'& 
coming  with  a  longing  and  cheerful  mind. 

Melancthon,  as  quoted  by  Elliott,  savs:  "This  aged 
world  is  not  far  from  its  end." 

Calvin,  in  his  Institutes,  Book  III,  chap.  25,  says: 
"  Scripture  uniformly  enjoins  us  to  look  with  expectation 
for  the  Advent  of  Christ."  Again,  Commentary  on  1 
Thess.  1: 10:  "  Whoever  would  persevere  in  the  course  of 
'a  holy  life,  let  him  apply  his  whole  mind  to  the  hope  of  the 
Advent  of  Christ."  Commentary  on  1  Thess.  4:17  ("we 
which  are  alive,"  etc.)  "  By  speaking  in  the  first  person, 
making  himself,  as  it  were,  one  of  the  number  of  those 
who  would  live  until  the  last  day,  he  would  arouse  the 
Thessalonians  to  wait  for  it — nay  more,  to  hold  all  believers- 
in  suspense." 

John  Knox,  in  his  treatise  on  fasting,  says:  "  The  Lord 
Jesus  shall  return,  and  that  with  expedition.  What  were 
this  else  but  to  reform  the  face  of  the  whole  earth,  which 
never  was,  nor  yet  shall  be,  till  that  righteous  King  and 
Judge  appear  for  the  restoration  of  all  things."  Again: 
"  Our  Heavenly  Father,  to  hold  us  in  remembrance  that  in 


SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


this  wretched  world  there  is  no  rest,  suffereth  us  to  be  tried, 
that  with  an  unfeigned  heart  we  may  desire  not  only  an  end 
of  our  own  troubles  —  for  that  shall  come  to  us  by  death  — 
but  also  of  all  troubles  of  the  Church  of  God,  which  shall 
not  be  before  the  Coming  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  Again: 
"By  the  signs  forespoken  by  our  Master,  which  for  the 
most  part  are  now  present  (fulfilled),  consider  the  end  of 
this  most  corrupt  world  to  be  short." 

Without  further  particular  quotation,  the  following  testi- 
mony of  the  martyr  Latimer,  as  to  the  faith  of  the 
Reformers,  may  suffice:  "All  those  excellent  and  learned 
men  whom,  without  doubt,  God  hath  sent  into  the  world 
in  these  latter  days  to  give  the  world  warning,  do  gather 
out  of  Scripture  that  the  last  day  can  not  be  far  off." 
(Third  Sermon  on  the  Lord's  Prayer.)  Again,  he  says: 
*'  Peradventure  it  may  come  in  my  days,  old  as  I  am,  or  in 
my  children's  days." 

After  carefully  investigating  the  subject,  Dr.  Henshaw, 
the  late  Bishop  of  Rhode  Island,  in  his  treatise  on  the 
Second  Advent,  says:  "We  may  safely  challenge  its  advo- 
cates (the  advocates  of  the  common  doctrine)  to  produce 
one  distinguished  writer  in  its  favor  who  lived  before  the 
•commencement  of  the  eighteenth  century." 

Now,  we  respectfully  submit:  Can  that  be  an  article  of 
the  Christian  faith  which  not  only  was  not  believed,  but  is 
inconsistent  with  what  was  believed  by  the  Apostolic  Church, 
by  the  Church  for  the  two  succeeding  centuries,  and  by  the 
Church  of  the  Reformation?  Ought  not  such  consent  in 
favor  of  the  Pre-Millennial  Advent  to  be  regarded  as 
decisive? 

Our  reasons,  then,  for  rejecting  the  doctrine  of  a  millen- 
nial era  of  universal  righteousness  and  peace  on  earth 
before  the  Advent,  are  summarily  as  follows: 

1.  The  doctrine  is  not  taught  by  either  Christ  or  His 
Apostles. 


DEFENCE  OF  PRE-MILLENNARIANISM.  42? 

2.  The  uniform  teaching  of  the  New  Testament  respect- 
ing the  condition  of  the  Church  and  of  the  world  during 
the  present  dispensation,  forbids  the  expectation  of  such  a 
millennium. 

3.  The  Advent  itself,  not  the  millennium,  is  prominently 
presented  in  the  New  Testament  as  "  the  blessed  hope  "  of 
the  Church,  and  is  uniformly  presented  as  an  event  ever 
imminent. 

4.  The  Saviour's  repeated  command  to  "  watch  "  for  His 
coming,  because  we  "  know  not  the  hour,"  is  inconsistent 
with  the  idea  of  a  millennium  intervening. 

5.  The  New  Testament  teaches  that  the  manifestation  of 
the  Messianic  Kingdom  is  to  occur  at,  and  not  before,  the 
Advent. 

6.  The  Apostolic  Church  was  pre-millennarian. 

7.  The  Church  for  two  centuries  immediately  succeeding 
the  Apostles,  was  pre-millennarian. 

8.  The  doctrine  of  a  millennial  era  before  the  Advent 
is  a  novelty  in  the  history  of  the  Church  proposed  but 
little  more  that  150  years  ago,  and  avowedly  as  "  a  New 
Hypothesis." 

We  have  given  a  summary  of  the  argument  in  defence 
of  pre-millennarianism.  Permit  me  in  closing,  to  direct 
attention  to  the  summary  of  Christian  faith  and  practice 
given  by  an  inspired  Apostle.  "  The  grace  of  God  which 
bringeth  salvation  hath  appeared  unto  all  men,  teaching  us 
tJtat  denying  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts  we  should  live 
soberly,  righteously,  and  godly  in  this  present  world,  LOOK- 
ING FOR  THAT  BLESSED  HOl'E,  EVEN  THE  GLORIOUS  APPEARING 

OF  THE  GREAT  GOD  AND  OUR  SAVIOUR  JESUS  CHRIST."  ""These 
things"  said  Paul  to  Titus — and  through  him  to  all  who 
labor  in  the  ministry  of  the  world — "  These  things  teach 
and  exhort"  In  obedience  to  the  Apostolic  injunction,  let 
me  exhort  you  who  hear  us  this  day,  to  "  watch  "  for  the 


428  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

glorious  appearing,  as  servants  for  the  return  of  the  master, 
"for  ye  know  not  the  hour  when  the  Lord  cometh"  Let 
scoffers  ask,  " "Where  is  the  promise  of  His  coming?"  Let 
believers  ask,  "  Why  think  ye  that  His  coming  is  immi- 
nent?" Brethren,  u  Ye  are  not  in  darkness  that  that  day 
should  overtake  you  unawares,  ye  yourselves  know  per- 
fectly that  the  day  of  the  Lord  shall  come,"  that  it  shall 
come  "  as  a  thief  in  the  night,"  "  in  an  hour  when  men 
think  not,"  when  the  world  is  saying  "  peace  and  safety," 
when  even  the  vigil  virgins  are  slumbering  and  sleeping, 
as  the  flood  in  the  days  of  JNoah,  as  the  lightning  from 
heaven  on  Sodom,  unexpected,  unsuspected,  "  So,  shall  the 
coming  of  the  Son  of  Man  be."  "  Let  us,  then,  who  are  of 
the  day  watch  and  be  sober."  With  trimmed  lamps  and 
loins  girded,  let  us  watch  and  wait  with  longing  desire  and 
expectation  for  the  coming  of  the  Master,  for  "  Blessed  is 
that  servant  whom  the  Lord  when  He  cometh  shall  find 
watching" 


HOPE  OF  CHRISTS  COMING.  429 


HOPE  OF  CHRIST'S  COMING  AS  A  MOTIVE  TO 
HOLY  LIVING  AND  ACTIVE  LABOR. 

BY  THE  REV.   DR.   RUFTJS  W.  CLARK,  REFORMED  CHURCH,  ALBANY,  N.  Y. 

ST.  PAUL,  in  his  Epistle  to  Titus,  says  (2: 11-13):  "  For  the 
grace  of  God,  that  bringeth  salvation,  hath  appeared  to  all 
men,  teaching  (or  training)  us,  that  denying  ungodliness 
and  worldly  lusts,  we  shall  live  soberly,  righteously  and 
godly  in  this  present  world,  looking  for  (or  waiting  with 
joy  for)  that  blessed  hope  and  glorious  appearing  of  the 
great  God,  and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ." 

We  have  here  set  forth  the  attitude  and  blessed  hope  of 
the  Church,  in  expectation  of  Christ's  coming.  First,  the 
grace  of  God,  that  is  the  source  and  foundation  of  the  work 
of  redemption,  has  already  appeared  or  been  manifested, 
in  the  incarnation  and  atoning  sacrifice  of  Christ  for  the 
sins  of  mankind.  This  grace  and  its  manifestations  are  to 
teach,  train,  or  discipline  us  (the  Greek  admitting  of  either 
rendering),  that  we  deny  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  and 
should  live  soberly,  justly  and  godly  in  the  present  world: 
soberly,  comprising  faithfulness  to  ourselves;  justly,  in  our 
dealings  with  our  fellow-men;  and  godly,  embracing  our 
duties  to  God.  Having  received  divine  grace  to  our  hearts, 
and  laboring  to  conform  our  lives  to  the  will  of  God  and 
the  requirements  of  the  Gospel,  Christians  are  required  to 
be  in  the  attitude  of  looking  and  joyfully  expecting  that 
blessed  hope,  and  the  manifestation  of  the  glory  of  the 
great  God  and  of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  The  phrase 
"  blessed  hope"  here  is  not  to  be  taken  subjectively  as  desig- 
nating the  state  or  act  of  hoping,  but  as  referring  to  the 
object  hoped  for;  namely,  the  appearing  or  coming  of  our 


430  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

Saviour  Jesus  Christ  in  glory.  The  saving  grace  in  God, 
that  has  already  appeared,  forms  the  basis  of  the  Christian 
faith,  love  and  righteousness.  But  the  work  that  has  been 
thus  begun  is  to  be  carried  forward  to  its  consummation  and 
perfection,  by  looking  for  the  Saviour's  return  to  the  earth; 
by  an  habitual  and  joyful  expectation  of  His  coming  in  the 
clouds  of  heaven  with  all  the  holy  angels;  by  patiently 
waiting  in  firm  faith  and  glowing  hope,  for  the  shout  or 
word  of  command,  for  the  voice  of  the  archangel  and  the 
trump  of  God,  that  will  announce  the  opening  scene  of  the 
grand  drama  of  the  Second  Advent. 

This  passage  from  the  Epistle  to  Titus,  may  be  regarded 
as  an  epitome  of  the  exhortations,  doctrines,  duties  and 
hopes,  that  abound  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  in  connection 
with  the  coming  of  our  blessed  Lord.  There  is  not  a  doc- 
trine of  Christianity,  upon  which  the  light  of  this  great 
truth  does  not  shine,  and  render  more  important  and 
luminous  by  its  radiance.  There  is  not  a  duty  pertaining 
to  the  Christian  life,  that  is  not  quickened  and  rendered 
more  imperative  by  its  power.  There  is  not  a  virtue  that 
it  does  not  call  into  the  highest  exercise;  not  a  motive  in 
the  human  heart  that  it  does  not  purify  and  strengthen; 
not  a  hope  for  the  future  that  it  does  not  kindle  with  a  new 
and  celestial  fire.  We  may  begin  with  the  duty  of  repent- 
ance, with  which  the  coming  Kingdom  of  Heaven  was 
heralded  at  the  time  of  the  First  Advent,'  and  trace  along 
in  their  natural  or  logical  order,  the  various  duties  and 
obligations  that  are  pressed  upon  the  followers  of  Christ, 
up  to  that  presented  in  Kev.  3:11:  "  Behold  I  come  quickly ; 
hold  that  fast  that  thou  hast,  that  no  man  take  thy  crown,'* 
and  we  shall  find  them  enforced  and  rendered  if  possible 
more  sacred  and  binding  by  the  truth  that  bursts  upon  us 
from  so  many  pages  of  the  New  Testament,  that  "The  Lord 
cometh." 


HOPE  OF  CHRIST'S  COMING.   %  431 

In  Acts  3:19-21  we  find  the  call,  "  Repent  ye,  there- 
fore, and  be  converted,  that  your  sins  may  be  blotted  out, 
when  the  times  of  refreshing  shall  come  from  the  presence 
of  the  Lord;  and  He  shall  send  Jesus  Christ,  which  before 
was  preached  unto  you;  whom  the  Heavens  must  receive, 
until  the  times  of  the  restitution  of  all  things,  which  God 
hath  spoken  by  the  mouth  of  all  His  holy  prophets  since 
the  world  began." 

The  word  translated  "when"  in  the  19th  verse,  should, 
according  to  eminent  commentators,  Dr.  Lange,  Dean 
Alford,  Dr.  J.  A.  Alexander,  and  others,  be  rendered  "  in 
order  that,"  or,  "so  that."  It  can  have  no  other  meaning. 
The  call,  therefore,  of  the  Apostles  upon  the  Jews  to  repent, 
and  have  their  sins  blotted  out,  was  "  in  order  that  the 
times  of  refreshing  may  come  from  the  presence  of  the 
Lord."  He  looked  forward  to  the  happy  period,  at  the 
close  of  the  present  dispensation,  when  the  Lord  would 
again  appear,  and  He  desired  to  have  it  hastened  by  the 
repentance  of  the  people.  At  the  ascension  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Heavens  had  received  Him,  and  He  would 
remain  there  until  the  times  of  restitution  of  all  things- 
times  wherein  all  things  will  be  restored,  of  which  all  God's 
holy  prophets  had  spoken  since  the  world  began.  When 
those  times  begin,  "  Jesus  Christ,  which  before  was  preached 
unto  you,"  or  rather  "  the  Messiah  Jesus,  who  was  before 
appointed  unto  you,"  will  be  sent  from  heaven,  and  in  view 
of  this  blessed  truth,  and  to  hasten  the  coming  of  the 
Lord,  the  summons  goes  forth  to  the  Jews,  and  with  more 
emphasis  now  to  all  mankind,  as  we  "  see  the  day  approach- 
ing," to  repent,  and  be  converted  and  have  their  sins  blot- 
ted out. 

In  Revelation  3:  3,  the  Church  at  Sardis  is  thus  exhorted 
and  warned  by  the  Holy  Spirit:  "Remember,  therefore, 
how  thou  hast  received  and  heard,  and  hold  fast  and  repent. 


432  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

If,  therefore,  thou  shalt  not  watch,  I  will  come  on  thee  as 
a  thief,  and  thou  shalt  not  know  what  hour  I  will  come 
upon  thee."  The  Church  at  Sardis  had  become  greatly 
secularized.  It  had  a  name  to  live.  In  its  creed  and  out- 
ward observance,  it  occupied  a  right  position,  but  spiritu- 
ally it  was  dead.  A  few  members  had  not  defiled  their 
garments  by  falling  into  sin.  They  have  the  promise 
that  they  shall  walk  in  white  robes,  with  the  King  in  His 
glory.  But  the  others  are  exhorted  to  hold  fast  what  of 
true  religion  remains  to  them,  and  to  repent  of  their  depart- 
ures from  God  and  failures  in  Christian  duty.  To  how 
many  churches  in  our  day  is  this  language  applicable  ?  To 
how  many  spiritual  sleepers  are  the  startling  words  of 
Christ  addressed?  "  If,  therefore,  thou  shalt  not  watch,  I 
will  come  on  thee  as  a  thief,  and  thou  shalt  not  know  what 
hour  I  will  come  upon  thee." 

NECESSITY    OF    REPENTANCE   AND    CONVERSION. 

Repentance  and  conversion  are  urged,  in  these  passages 
we  have  quoted,  that  we  may  hasten  the  times  of  refreshing 
from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  who  is  coming  to  restore  all 
things;  and  that  we  may  watch  and  patiently  wait  for  His 
appearing.  The  first  end  relates  to  His  Kingdom,  and  the 
benefits  we  are  the  means  of  conferring  upon  others.  The 
second  end  pertains  to  ourselves,  to  our  spiritual  life,  to  our 
steadfastness  in  the  faith,  to  our  growth  in  grace,  and  in 
the  knowledge  of  the  Lord.  The  author  of  Christianity 
saw  the  necessity,  growing  out  of  our  mental  and  moral 
constitution,  of  having  placed  before  the  eye  of  the  believer, 
at  the  outset  of  his  Christian  life,  and  object  of  hope,  to 
comfort  him  in  hours  of  despondency;  to  sustain  him  in 
the  midst  of  trials  and  difficulties,  to  warm  his  affections 
and  kindle  his  ardor  in  fai  thful  services  for  the  Master,  who 
might  return  at  any  moment.  The  day  and  hour  of  His 


HOPE  OF  CHRISFS  COMING.  433 

coming  were  not  revealed,  that  the  whole  Church,  from 
generation  to  generation,  might  feel  the  power  of  the  doc- 
trine, and  every  believer  stand  in  the  attitude  of  patient 
watching  and  ardent  longing  for  His  appearing. 

Having  repented  of  sin,  and  entered  upon  the  Christian 
life,  our  Lord  thus  exhorts  His  followers:  "  And  He  said 
to  them  all,  if  any  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him  deny 
himself  and  take  up  his  cross  daily  and  follow  me.  *  *  * 
For  whosoever  shall  be  ashamed  of  Me  and  of  My  words,  of 
him  shall  the  Son  of  Man  be  ashamed  when  He  shall  come 
in  His  own  glory,  and  in  His  Father's,  and  of  the  holy 
angels."  (Luke  9:23,26.)  You  observe  that  in  this  pas- 
sage, as  well  as  in  others,  where  much  severer  language  is 
used,  as  in  Matt.  7:21-23  and  25:31-41,  our  Lord  brings 
His  coming  in  glory  to  bear  with  an  immense  pressure 
upon  the  primary  and  fundamental  duties  of  the  Christian 
life.  The  scene  is  the  most  impressive  because  He  will 
appear  surrounded  by  a  three-fold  glory,  His  own,  His 
Father's,  and  that  of  the  holy  angels,  who  will  all  be  wit- 
nesses of  the  shame  and  confusion  that  will  come  upon  the 
unfaithful  disciple.  To  add  force  to  the  warning,  and  to 
the  announcement  of  His  coming,  He  concludes  by  saying: 
"But  I  tell  you  of  a  truth,  there  be  some  standing  here 
which  shall  not  taste  of  death  till  they  have  seen  the  King- 
dom of  God,"  referring  to  the  transfiguration,  that  is  imme- 
diately afterward  described.  Thus  He  furnishes  them  with 
a  preliminary  fulfillment  of  His  prophecy.  And  from  the 
illuminated  summit  of  Mount  Tabor,  from  the  heavenly 
brightness  of  our  Lord's  countenance,  and  His  pure  white 
raiment;  from  the  glorious  forms  of  Moses  and  Elias, 
representing  the  hosts  that  will  yet  appear  in  the  clouds 
with  the  returning  Messiah,  there  come  influences  that 
prompt  us  to  deny  ourselves  to  take  up  our  cross  daily  and 
follow  Christ,  and  never  be  ashamed  of  Him  in  His  humil- 


434  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

iation  and  suffering;  that  He  may  not  be  ashamed  of  us 
"  when  He  shall  come  in  His  own  glory,  and  in  His  Father's 
and  of  the  holy  angels." 

The  eminent  Dr.  J.  J.  Yan  Oosterzee,  in  his  comments 
on  this  passage  in  Lange,  says,  "The  manifestations  on 
Tabor  deserve  to  be  called  a  striking  revelation  of  the  future 
state  in  this.  We  see  here  the  spirits  of  just  men  made 
perfect,  live  unto  God,  even  though  centuries  have  already 
flown  over  their  dust.  In  a  glorified  body  they  are  active 
for  the  concerns  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  in  which  they 
take  the  holiest  interest.  Although  separated  by  wide  dis- 
tances of  time  and  space  beneath,  Moses  and  Elijah  have 
met  and  recognized  each  other  in  higher  regions.  The  cen- 
tre of  their  fellowship  is  the  suffering  and  glorified  Jesus, 
and  so  blessed  is  their  state  that  even  their  transient 
appearance  causes  the  light  of  the  most  glorious  joy  to 
beam  into  the  child  of  earth.  *  *  *  Thus  do  they 
appear  before  us  as  types  of  that  which  the  pious  departed 
are  even  now,  in  their  condition  of  separation  from  the 
body,  and  as  prophets  of  that  which  the  redeemed  of  the 
Lord  shall  be,  in  yet  higher  measure,  at  His  coming." 

Our  Lord,  also,  in  connection  with  the  warnings  just 
cited,  directs  His  coming  against  the  spirit  of  worldliness, 
that  pervaded  the  carnal  Messianic  hopes  of  the  Jews.  He 
said:  "  What  is  a  man  profited  if  he  shall  gain  the  whole 
world  and  lose  his  own  soul?  Or,  what  shall  a  man  give 
in  exchange  for  his  soul?  *  *  *  For  the  Son  of  Man 
shall  come  in  the  glory  of  His  Father,  with  His  angels, 
and  then  He  shall  reward  every  man  according  to  his 
works."  (Matt.  16:26,  27.)  The  most  terrible  of  all  cal- 
amities, the  loss  of  the  soul,  and  with  it  necessarily  the  loss 
of  the  whole  world,  were  it  possible  to  gain  it — for  both 
must  go  down  together,  if  the  former  perishes — this  loss,  I 
say,  is  thrown,  as  it  were,  into  the  light  of  Christ's  Second 


HOPE  OF  CHRISTS  COMING.  435 

Advent,  that  we  may  see  the  magnitude  of  the  calamity; 
connected  as  it  is  with  being  shut  out  from  the  splendors 
and  raptures  of  that  day,  and  from  the  precious  and  eternal 
rewards  that  will  be  bestowed  upon  the  faithful.  In  the 
preceding  verse  (v.  25)  where  Christ  says:  "Whosoever 
shall  lose  his  life  for  My  sake  shall  find  it."  He  doubtless 
refers  to  His  Second  Advent,  when  the  lives  that  have 
been  sacrificed  for  Him  shall  re-appear  in  new  and  imperish- 
able forms,  and  in  bodies  like  unto  His  glorious  body.  In 
the  light  of  these  passages  from  Divine  lips,  we  can  see 
how  much  more  it  will  profit  us  to  suffer  holy  death  for 
Christ's  sake  than  to  gain  all  the  treasures,  honors,  and 
pleasures  that  the  whole  world  can  bestow. 

We  pass  next  to  consider  the  inward  Christian  virtues 
that  are  enveloped  in  the  atmosphere  and  light  and  quick- 
ening power  of  the  day  of  the  Lord.  In  Phillipians  1 :  9, 10 : 
St.  Paul  says,  "  And  this  I  pray,  that  your  love  may  abound 
yet  more  and  more  in  knowledge  and  in  all  judgment,  that 
ye  may  approve  things  that  are  excellent,  that  ye  may  be 
sincere  and  without  offence  till  the  day  of  Christ,"  or  more 
correctly,  "  against,  the  day  of  Christ."  Love  having 
been  planted  in  the  heart  of  the  believer,  and  sincerity  and 
purity  being  elements  of  the  new  life,  these  are  to  be  culti- 
vated and  made  to  abound  more  and  more,  for  the  day  of 
the  Lord,  when  a  character  thus  formed  will  be  made  man- 
ifest. The  passage  is  thus  clearly  and  beautifully  unfolded 
by  Dr.  Karl  Braune  in  his  commentary  on  this  epistle,  in 
Lange's  series:  Love  combined  with  an  active  faith  is  the 
central  force  which  penetrates  the  inmost  personality,  directs 
the  life,  and  goes  forward  step  by  step  towards  its  perfec- 
tion. This  progress  shows  itself  in  a  two-fold  way:  (or) 
internally,  the  Christian  becomes  intellectually  more  inti- 
mate with  God  and  with  His  thoughts.  Love  thus  becomes 
clearer,  deeper,  stronger.  It  increases  in  knowledge,  grows 


436  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

in  that  and  with  that,  as  an  ethical  effect;  also,  the  love  per- 
ceives, experiences,  feels  the  power  of  the  Kingdom  of  God 
with  its  manifold  ordinances  and  richly  endowed  member- 
ship. It  thus  becomes  stronger,  fuller,  riper.  It  increases 
in  experience,  grows  in  that  and  with  that.  Thus  Christians 
come  to  a  surer  judgment  respecting  the  things  which  are 
about  them,  and  concern  them  within  and  without,  good 
and  bad.  The  result  is  purity. 

(5.)  Externally  love  acts  spontaneously,  without  calcula- 
tion, with  nice  moral  tact,  with  tender  conscientiousness, 
giving  no  offence.  The  eye  ever  directed  to  the  end  "  the 
Coming  of  the  Lord,"  annunciates  this  love,  thus  progres- 
sive to  the  final  day  of  Christ. 

PATIENCE   AND    ENDURANCE    REQUIRED. 

Next,  this  doctrine  calls  for  the  exercise  of  patience  and 
endurance.  "  Be  patient,  therefore,  brethren,  unto  the  com- 
ing of  the  Lord.  Behold,  the  husbandman  waiteth  for  the 
precious  fruit  of  the  earth,  and  hath  long  patience  for  it, 
until  he  receives  the  early  and  latter  rain.  Be  ye  also 
patient;  establish  your  hearts;  for  the  coming  of  the  Lord 
draweth  nigh."  (James  5:7,8.)  Long-suffering  patience 
is  a  virtue  that  enters  so  largely  into  the  Christian  life  and 
character;  that  is  so  vitally  connected  with  all  the  other 
virtues,  love,  faith,  steadfastness  and  hope;  and  is  so  inti- 
mately associated  with  present  and  final  success,  in  every 
department  of  Christian  service,  that  it  needs  to  be  con- 
stantly nourished  and  strengthened.  Especially  should  it 
be  maintained  and  exercised  to  the  highest  degree  in  refer- 
ence to  the  coming  of  the  Lord.  And,  let  me  ask,  what  is 
there  better  calculated  to  promote  in  a  Christian  soul 
patient  endurance  than  the  thought  that  "  the  coming  of 
Lord  draweth  nigh."  With  our  eyes  steadily  fixed  upon 
the  fact;  with  an  intense  love  of  His  appearing;  with  an 


HOPE  OF  GHRISTS  COMING.  437 

abiding  faith  in  the  exceeding  great  and  precious  promises 
that  cluster  around  this  doctrine;  arid  with  those  promises 
already  taking  root  and  germinating  in  our  spiritual  nature, 
we  shall  find  it  easy  to  practice  Christian  patience;  and  to 
look  to  the  Lord  to  establish  our  "  hearts  unblamable  in 
holiness  before  God,  even  our  Father,  at  the  corning  of  oar 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  with  all  His  saints."    (1  Thess.  3:13.) 
It  is  not  necessary  that  we  should  know  the  precise  day  or 
hour  of  His  coming.     It  is  not  essential  that  we  should  be 
infallible  in  discerning  the  signs  of  the  times  of  His  near 
approach;    though  it  is  our   privilege  and  duty  to  study 
these  signs,  and  gather  from  them  all  the  light  we  can  bear- 
ing upon  the  period  of  His  probable  appearance.     But  it 
is  essential  that  we  should  be  patient,  and  that  we  should 
listen  to  every  injunction,  and  obey  every  command  that 
our  Lord  has  given  in  connection  with  the  event  in  His  his- 
tory, that,  in    His  estimation,  at  least,  towers    above   all 
others.     It  is  essential  that  we  keep  our  eyes  open  to  what 
is  transpiring  around  us,  as  possibly  prophetic  of  stupend- 
ous changes  near  at  hand  in  the  divine  administration  of 
the  Kingdom  of  Christ  on  the  earth.     By  doing  thus,  we 
shall  meet  all  the  solemn  obligations  that  the  Second  Com- 
ing imposes  upon  us;  and  if  we  die  before  the  heavens  are 
lighted  up  with  the  splendors  of  His  appearing,  we  shall 
reap  all  the  benefits  in  the  first  resurrection,  that  will  accrue 
to  those  who  are  alive,  and  remain  to  hear  the  shout,  the 
voice  of  the  Archangel,  and  the  trump  of  God. 

The  beautiful  lesson  that  the  Apostle  James  draws  from 
the  kingdom  of  nature  and  applies  to  the  kingdom  of  grace 
should  be  treasured  up  in  our  hearts.  The  husbandman, 
representing  believers,  confides  his  seed  to  the  earth,  where 
it  is  invisible,  and  apparently  subject  to  decay.  He  sees 
the  precious  fruit  in  expectation,  and  this  gives  him  his 
long-enduring  patience.  He  is  cheered  by  the  early  and 


438  SECOND  COMLNG  OF  CHRIST. 

latter  rain,  that  give  promise  of  the  coming  harvest.  So 
the  richer  harvests  of  eternity  wave  in  expectation  before 
our  vision,  and  our  weary  hearts  are  refreshed  by  the  show- 
ers of  grace  that  come  to  us  from  our  risen  and  ascended 
Lord.  St.  Paul  thus  urges  the  exercise  of  this  virtue  in 
Heb.  10:  35,  37.  "  Cast  not  away  therefore  your  confidence, 
which  hath  great  recompense  of  reward.  For  ye  have 
need  of  patience,  that,  after  ye  have  done  the  will  of  God, 
ye  might  receive  the  promise.  For  yet  a  little  while,  and 
He  that  shall  come,  will  come  and  will  not  tarry."  Believ- 
ers are  here  encouraged  to  cling  to  their  faith,  and  exercise 
patience,  because  the  recompense  of  reward  is  as  sure  as 
the  Lord's  return,  who  is,  as  it  were,  already  on  the  way. 
His  coming  is  emphasized  by  the  repetition,  "  yet  a  little 
while  and  He  that  shall  come,  will  come  and  will  not  tarry." 
Here  Christ  appears  as  the  subject  of  the  vision  prophesied 
by  Habakkuk  2:3:  "  For  the  vision  is  yet  for  an  appointed 
time,  but  at  the  end  it  shall  speak  and  not  lie;  though  it 
tarry,  wait  for  it;  because  it  will  surely  come,  it  will  not 
tarry."  The  coming  of  Christ  is  the  grand  and  ultimate 
consummation  of  all  prophetical  vision,  and  He  will  not 
lie,  nor  deceive  those  who  put  their  confidence  in  Him. 
He  will  surely  come  and  will  not  tarry. 

This  truth  is  used  as  a  motive  to  sobriety.  St.  Paul 
says  (1  Thess.  v.  1,  2,  6):  "  Of  the  times  and  the  seasons, 
brethren,  ye  have  no  need  that  I  write  unto  you.  For 
yourselves  know  perfectly  that  the  day  of  the  Lord  so 
cometh  as  a  thief  in  the  night.  .  .  .  Therefore  let  us  not 
sleep  as  do  others,  but  let  us  watch  and  be  sober."  As  to 
the  precise  time  of  Christ's  coming,  there  was  no  need  that 
the  Apostle  should  discuss  that,  for  it  could  not  be  deter- 
mined, though  we  are  required  to  notice  the  signs  of  the 
time.  The  great  fact  ever  to  be  kept  in  view  is  that  the 
day  of  the  Lord  will  come  suddenly,  unexpectedly,  as  a 


HOPE  OF  CHRISTS  COMING.  439 

thief  in  the  night.  It  is  possible  for  Him  to  come  at  any 
hour,  hence  the  children  of  the  light  should  watch  and  be 
sober.  Sobriety  is  frequently  joined  with  watchfulness,  as 
in  1  Peter  4:7.  "  But  the  end  of  all  things  is  at  hand;  be 
ye  therefore  sober  and  watch  unto  prayer."  Upon  this 
passage  Calvin  remarks:  "The  end  he  speaks  of  is  not 
merely  that  of  each  several  individual,  but  the  entire 
renovation  of  the  world:  as  if  he  had  said  that  Christ  will 
shortly  come,  and  put  an  end  to  all  things.  It  is  not  strange, 
therefore,  it  we  are  overwhelmed  by  worldly  cares,  and  held 
in  slumber,  or  if  the  sight  of  present  things  dazzles  our 
eyes;  because  we  do  all  commonly  promise  ourselves  an 
eternity  in  this  world;  never,  at  least,  does  the  end  come 
into  the  mind.  "Whereas  did  the  trump  of  God  sound  in 
our  ears,  it  would  keenly  smite  all  our  senses,  nor  suffer 
them  to  be  thus  torpid.  It  might  be  objected,  however, 
that  a  long  series  of  ages  has  elapsed  since  Peter  wrote 
this,  and  still  the  end  is  not  yet  seen.  I  answer  that  to  us 
the  time  seems  long  for  this  reason,  that  we  measure 
its  length  by  the  spaces  of  the  present  life,  but  that,  could 
we  have  respect  to  the  perpetuity  of  the  life  to  come,  many 
generations  would  be  for  us  as  it  were  a  moment  (2  Pet. 
3 : 8).  Moreover  it  must  be  held  as  a  first  principle,  that 
ever  since  the  appearing  of  Christ  there  is  nothing  left  to 
the  faithful  but  with  wakeful  minds  to  be  always  intent  on 
His  Second  Advent." 

SUBDUING   THE    LUSTS    OF   THE   FLESH. 

In  view  of  our  appearing  with  Christ  in  glory,  we  are 
required  to  mortify  or  put  to  death  the  lusts  of  the  flesh. 
"  For  ye  are  dead,  and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God. 
When  Christ,  who  is  our  life,  shall  appear,  then  shall  ye 
also  appear  with  Him  in  glory.  Mortify,  therefore,  your 
members  which  are  upon  the  earth,  fornication,  uncleanli- 


440         SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

ness,  inordinate  affection,  evil  concupiscence,  and  covetous- 
ness,  which  is  idolatry."  (Col.  3:3-5.)  More  literally  and 
freely  rendered :  For  ye  died  to  this  world,  and  your  life,  the 
resurrection  and  eternal  life,  is  hidden,  is  at  present  con- 
cealed with  Christ  in  God,  with  Christ  who  is  in  the  bosom 
of  the  Father.  When  Christ  who  is  our  life,  the  essence 
and  impersonation  of  our  life,  is  manifested,  then  shall  ye 
also  with  Him  be  manifested  in  glory.  Though  we  now 
appear  to  be  dead,  yet  then  our  true  and  real  life  will  bloom 
out  in  its  wondrous  spiritual  elements,  its  heavenly  beauty 
and  its  likeness  to  Christ.  Animated  by  this  sublime  hope, 
favored  by  Heaven  with  such  a  glorious  destiny,  the  Apostle 
exhorts  the  believer  to  put  to  death  the  members  which  are 
upon  the  earth,  which  are  earthly  and  sensual,  and  such  as 
belong  to  the  old  nature;  and  preparatory  to  meeting  Christ 
and  sharing  the  splendors  and  honors  of  His  second  com- 
ing, to  put  on,  as  God-elect,  kindness,  meekness,  long-suf- 
fering and  love,  which  is  the  bond  of  perfection.  We  are 
required  to  cultivate  and  practice  the  virtues  that  Christ 
manifested  in  His  earthly  career,  that  we  may  share  in  the 
glories  of  His  heavenly  appearing. 

The  Apostle  John  inculcates  this  purity  in  language 
most  sublime  and  thrilling.  His  words  have  for  years 
rung  through  my  soul  with  an  eloquence  and  power  that 
I  can  not  express.  <4  Beloved,  now  are  we  the  sons  of 
God,  and  it  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be;  but  we 
know,  when  He  shall  appear,  we  shall  be  like  Him;  for 
we  shall  see  Him  as  He  is.  And  every  man  that  hath 
this  hope  in  Him  (the  hope  of  seeing  Christ  and  of  being 
like  Him  at  His  appearing),  pnrih'eth  himself,  even  as  He, 
that  is  Christ,  is  pure."  (1  John  3,  2-3.)  We  are  now  at 
this  moment  the  sons  or  children  of  God,  just  as  truly  as 
we  ever  shall  be,  although  the  full  blessedness  and  glory  of 
our  sonship  is  still  concealed.  Literally,  "  it  never  yet  was 


HOPE  OF  CHRISTS  COMING.  441 

manifested  what  we  shall  be;  we  know  that  when  it  shall 
be  manifested,  we  shall  be  like  Him;  because  we  shall  see 
Him  as  He  is."  There  will  be  such  a  seeing  of  the  nature, 
character  and  glory  of  Christ,  that  our  own  being  will  be 
penetrated  by  His,  and  so  developed  and  enriched  and  illu- 
minated, as  to  resemble  the  Divine  and  Holy  One.  And 
every  one  that  hath  this  hope  in  Him  purifieth  himself 
even  as  Christ  is  pure.  This  moral  likeness  to  Christ  must 
begin  here;  and  we  know  of  nothing  better  calculated  to 
produce  it,  than  keeping  the  eye  steadily  fixed  upon  our 
coming  Lord;  and  the  heart  warm  with  the  love  of  His 
appearing. 

This  doctrine  is  presented  by  the  Apostle  Peter  as  the 
great  support  under  trials  and  persecution.  "  Beloved, 
think  it  not  strange  concerning  the  fiery  trial  which  is  to 
try  you,  as  though  some  strange  thing  had  happened  unto 
you;  but  rejoice  inasmuch  as  ye  are  partakers  of  Christ's 
sufferings;  that  when  His  glory  shall  be  revealed,  ye  may 
be  glad  also  with  exceeding  joy."  (1  Peter  4: 12,  13.)  In 
the  opening  chapter  of  this  epistle,  the  Apostle  indulges  in 
the  same  strain  of  warm  sympathy  and  exulting  hope, 
directing  the  thoughts  of  his  suffering  fellow  Christians  to 
the  appearing  of  the  Lord,  as  the  event  of  transcendent 
interest  and  inconceivable  splendor,  which  "  in  the  last 
time,"  at  the  close  of  the  present  dispensation,  is  to  burst 
upon  the  Church,  bringing  unspeakable  joy  and  rapture. 
It  is,  as  though  he  saw  nothing  else;  thought  of  nothing 
else;  cared  for  nothing  else.  For  this  he  lived,  toiled,  suf- 
fered, and  was  willing  to  die.  The  return  of  his  Lord,  with 
whom  he  had  been  so  intimately  associated  in  His  first 
advent,  was  the  polar  star  that  ever  shone  upon  his  path. 
The  splendor  of  His  coming  that  seemed  already  to  flash 
before  his  vision,  relieved  the  darkness  of  the  tempestuous 
ocean  upon  which  he  was  now  tossed.  So  penetrating  and 


442  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

absorbing  was  the  power  of  this  event,  that  he  was  led  as 
he  desired  his  brethren  to  be  led,  to  rejoice  in  being  made 
partakers  of  Christ's  sufferings.  It  mattered  not  how 
great  or  long-continued  those  sufferings  were,  he  would 
have  them  cheerfully  endured. 

He  would  have  them  welcome  them  and  rejoice  in  them 
as  the  greatest  advantages  they  could  possibly  receive,  as 
far  more  to  them  than  all  the  treasures  and  honors  and 
pleasures  of  earth.  And  for  this  reason,  "  That  when  His 
glory  shall  be  revealed,  ye  may  be  glad  also  with  exceed- 
ing joy."  The  joy  now  in  partaking  of  His  suffering  is 
the  germ  of  an  exultant  and  boundless  joy  that  will  be 
experienced  at  the  moment  of  His  appearing. 

The  passage  in  the  first  chapter  brings  out  the  object  for 
which  Christians  are  kept,  and  the  preciousness  of  their 
faith  that  is  now  severely  tried ;  who  are  kept  by  the  power 
of  God  through  faith  unto  salvation  ready  to  be  revealed 
in  the  last  time.  "  Wherein  ye  greatly  rejoice,  though  now 
for  a  season,  if  need  be,  ye  are  in  heaviness  through  mani- 
fold temptations.  That  the  trial  of  your  faith,  being  much 
more  precious  than  of  gold  that  perisheth,  though  it  be 
tried  with  fire,  might  be  found  unto  praise,  and  honor,  and 
glory  at  the  appearing  of  Jesus  Christ."  (1  Peter  1:  5-7.) 

Here  the  Apostle  identifies  our  Lord's  Second  Coming 
with  the  present  Christian  life  in  two  most  important 
aspects,  and  draws  from  it  encouragement  and  a  sustaining 
power  that  can  be  derived  from  no  other  source;  and  that, 
we  may  add,  can  be  received  only  by  those  who  believe  in 
'Christ's  return  to  His  people. 

Those  whom  God  hath  begotten  "  unto  a  lively  hope  by 
the  resurrection  of  Christ  from  the  dead  "  are  kept  (a  mili- 
tary phrase  expressive  of  a  guard,  or  a  strong  garrison)  by 
the  power  of  God.  They  have  nothing  to  fear  from  the 
-enemies  of  their  salvation,  for  they  are  surrounded  by  a 


HOPE  OF  CHRIST'S  COMING.  443 

strong  bodyguard,  by  God  Himself  and  His  Holy  Angels. 
The  same  military  term  is  used  in  Phil.  4:  7.  "And  the 
peace  of  God  that  passeth  all  understanding  shall  keep 
your  hearts  and  minds  through  Christ  Jesus."  Thus 
believers  are  kept  by  the  Divine  Omnipotence,  through 
faith,  unto  a  full  and  complete  salvation,  ready  to  be 
revealed  in  the  last  time. 

Peter,  sharing  with  the  other  Apostles  in  the  expectation 
that  Christ's  Second  Advent  was  near  at  hand,  thus  speaks 
of  this  salvation  upon  which  his  heart  is  fixed,  as  ready  to  be 
revealed,  or  fully  disclosed  in  the  last  time,  the  period  that 
will  begin  with  Christ's  return.  This  nearness  is  spoken  of 
inKom.  13:11,  12;  Phil.  4: 5;  Heb.  10:25,  37;  James5:7, 
8;  Rev.  1:3;  22:  10,  20.  and  in  many  other  passages.  In 
the  words  of  Luther,  "  The  inheritance  to  which  you  are 
ordained,  has  been  acquired  long  since,  and  prepared  from  the 
beginning  of  the  world,  but  lies  as  yet  concealed,  covered 
and  sealed;  but  in  a  short  time  it  will  be  opened  in  a 
moment,  and  disclosed  so  that  we  may  see  it."  In  this  fact, 
that  great  treasures  are  reserved  for  believers,  soon  to  be 
revealed,  they  should  greatly  rejoice.  But  there  is  another 
aspect  of  the  subject  of  vital  moment  expressed  in  the 
words:  "That  the  trial  of  your  faith,  being  much  more 
precious  than  of  gold,  that  perisheth  though  it  be  tried 
with  fire,  might  be  found  unto  praise  and  honor  and  glory 
at  the  appearing  of  Jesus  Christ."  Faith  under  all  circum- 
stances is  a  valuable  principle.  But  faith  tested,  proved 
and  purified  in  the  furnace  of  persecution,  is  more  precious 
than  gold,  the  most  precious  of  the  metals.  For  as  the  fire 
separates  the  dross  from  the  gold,  so  a  willingness  to  suffer 
for  Christ,  and  the  patient  endurance  of  "  manifold  tempt- 
ations," separates  from  faith  all  alloy,  all  selfishness  and 
self-reliance;  and  for  this  distinct  purpose,  that  it  "  might 
be  found  unto  praise  arid  honor  and  glory  at  the  appearing 


444  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

of  Jesus  Christ."  The  possessor  of  this  faith  will  be  praised 
for  his  fidelity;  for  his  power  of  endurance  for  Christ's 
sake,  and  for  his  faithfulness  unto  death.  He  will  receive 
the  honor  promised  by  Christ  to  His  faithful  servants,  a& 
expressed  in  John  12:  26.  "  If  any  man  serve  Me,  him  will 
My  Father  honor."  He  will  share  in  the  glory  which  the 
Father  hath  given  to  His  Son,  and  which  He  will  commu- 
nicate to  all  that  are  His.  "  To  them  who,  by  patient  con- 
tinuance in  well-doing,  seek  for  glory,  honor  and  immortality, 
He  will  give  eternal  life."  (Horn.  2:7.)  The  preciousness 
of  this  faith  and  the  splendor  of  its  fruits,  will  also  appear 
in  the  praise  and  honor  and  glory  it  will  bring  to  the 
blessed  Trinity;  praise  to  the  Father  for  so  loving  the  world 
as  to  give  His  only  begotten  Son  to  die  for  it;  honor  to  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  for  His  great  redemption;  and  glory  to 
the  Holy  Ghost  for  the  completion  of  the  work  of  grace  in 
the  hearts  of  believers. 

A   FUNDAMENTAL    ARTICLE    OF   FAITH. 

The  Rev.  G.  F.  C.  Fronmuller,  in  his  comments  upon 
this  passage  in  Lange,  says,  "  Our  Lord's  return  has  been 
one  of  the  fundamental  articles  of  the  faith  of  universal 
Christendom  in  every  age  of  the  Church  history.  To  hide 
this  important  doctrine  under  a  bushel  is  at  once  a  defect  of 
teaching,  and  in  opposition  to  the  mind  of  Christ  and  His 
Apostles.  It  is  to  be  noticed  that  the  return  of  Christ  shall 
be  preceded  not  only  by  several  ages,  but  also  by  several 
ends  of  ages,  with  typical  final  judgments,  as  St.  Paul 
speaks  of  TO.  rtfy  ™v  awewv.  The  flood,  the  dispersion  of  the 
ten  tribes,  the  judgment  of  Jadah,  but  especially  the  des- 
truction of  Jerusalem  and  the  conquest  of  Palestine,  were 
in  a  certain  sense  such  final  judgments."  (1  Cor.  10:  11.) 

The  Apostle  Paul,  in  exhorting  the  Christians  atPhillipi 
to  follow  his  example,  and  avoid  the  enemies  of  the  Cross 


HOPE  OF  CHRISrS  COMING.  445 

of  Christ,  who  mind  earthly  things,  thus  sets  forth  their 
high  privileges  and  hopes.  For,  as  Dean  Alford  renders 
this  passage,  "  our  country  is  in  the  heavens;  from  whence 
also  we  look  for  a  Saviour,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  shall 
change  the  body  of  our  humiliation,  that  it  may  be  con- 
formed unto  the  body  of  His  glory,  according  to  the  work- 
ing of  His  power,  whereby  He  is  able  even  to  subdue  all 
things  unto  Him."  (Phil.  3:20,  21.)  The  influence  of 
this  blessed  truth  upon  his  own  soul,  and  the  ardent  desires 
it  awakened,  are  thus  expressed:  "That  I  may  know  Him 
and  the  power  of  His  resurrection,  and  the  fellowship  of 
His  sufferings,  being  conformed  to  the  likeness  of  His  death; 
if  by  any  means  I  might  attain  unto  the  resurrection  from 
the  dead  (that  blessed  resurrection  of  the  dead  in  Christ, 
who  will  rise  at  His  coming),  Brethren,!  count  not  myself 
to  have  apprehended  (or  laid  hold),  but  one  thing  I  do,  for- 
getting those  things  which  are  behind,  and  reaching  forth 
unto  those  things  which  are  before,  I  press  toward  the  mark 
for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God,  in  Christ  Jesus." 
(Phil.  3: 10,  11,  13.)  He  then  adds,  u  Let  us  then,  as  many 
as  be  perfect,  be  thus  minded  "  (v.  15),  and  for  this  reason 
we  are  citizens  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  the  Heavenly 
Jerusalem.  We  already  belong  to  that  blessed  country 
whence  we  look  for  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  expecting  Him 
till  the  event  arrives.  Upon  this  our  eyes  and  hearts  and 
hopes  should  be  fixed.  For  He  will  come  to  transform  the 
body  of  our  humiliation,  that  is,  this  body  that  has  been 
humiliated  by  suffering  and  reproach,  as  Christ's  body  on 
earth  was  humiliated,  and  fashion  it  like  unto  His  present 
glorious  body.  The  change  we  conceive  is  to  affect  our 
whole  being,  body  and  soul.  We  are  to  be  transformed 
into  His  spiritual  and  heavenly  image,  as  well  as  reflect  in 
our  bodies  the  brightness  of  His  glory. 

Neander  gays,  "  Paul's  meaning  is  that  Christians  as  to 


SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


their  life,  their  walk,  belong  even  now  to  Heaven:  in  the 
whole  direction  of  their  life  existing  there  already.  This 
he  deduces  from  their  relation  to  Christ,  their  fellowship 
with  Him  to  whom  they  are  inseparably  united,  so  that 
where  He  is,  there  are  they  also.  While  here  they  are 
sustained  by  the  consciousness  that  Christ  now  lives  in 
Heaven  manifested  to  believers  though  hidden  from  the 
world.  Thither  is  their  gaze  directed,  as  their  longings 
rise  toward  a  Saviour  who  will  come  again  from  thence,  to 
make  them  wholly  like  Himself,  to  fashion  them  wholly 
after  His  own  glorious  pattern,  to  transform  them  wholly 
into  the  Heavenly.  There  is  not  presented  here  a  resur- 
rection, as  a  restoration  merely  of  the  same  earthly  body 
in  the  same  earthly  form,  but,  on  the  contrary,  a  glorious 
transformation,  proceeding  from  the  divine,  the  all-sub- 
duing power  of  Christ;  so  that  believers  free  from  the 
defects  of  the  earthly  existence,  released  from  all  its  bar- 
riers, may  reflect  the  full  image  of  the  Heavenly  Christ 
in  their  whole  glorified  personality,  in  the  soul  pervaded 
by  the  divine  life,  and  its  now  perfectly  assimilated  glori- 
fied organ."  —  (Dr.  Hackett  in  Lange,  p.  62.) 

What  a  prospect  does  this  open  to  the  Church  of  the 
Living  God;  to  believers  now  upon  the  earth,  who  stand 
nearer  to  this  event  than  any  who  have  preceded  them;  to 
whom  the  words  of  the  Apostle  James  come  with  a  power 
greater  than  ever  had  before!  "The  coming  of  the  Lord 
draweth  nigh."  With  what  faith,  with  what  eagerness, 
with  what  ardent  longing?  should  we  look  for  His  appear- 
ing, who  may  come  at  any  moment,  and  who  will  come  to 
affect  the  glorious  change  that  has  been  described  in  all 
whose  citizenship  or  country  is  in  Heaven! 

In  Paul's  first  Epistle  to  the  Thessalonians,  that  was  writ- 
ten under  the  glorious  enthusiasm  awakened  by  this  truth, 
besides  the  announcement  that  the  Lord  will  descend  from 


HOPE  OF  CUEISTS  COMING. 


Heaven  with  a  shout  or  word  of  command,  to  meet  His 
Saints  in  the  air,  and  the  accompanying  exhortation, 
"Wherefore  comfort  one  another  with  these  words,"  we 
have  this  great  event  placed  before  believers,  as  one  for 
which  they  should  constantly  wait;  as  a  motive  to  increase 
in  brotherly  love,  and  as  a  reason  for  their  entire  eanctiti- 
cation.  In  the  first  chapter  the  Apostle  commends  the 
Thessalonians  for  their  strong  faith  and  their  readiness  to 
turn  from  idols,  to  serve  the  living  and  true  God,  and  tc 
wait  for  His  Son  from  Heaven."  —  (I,  10.)  He  thus  pre- 
sents, in  these  two  particulars,  the  life-aim  of  converts  to 
Christianity,  the  service  of  God  and  waiting  for  the  return 
of  His  Son  from  Heaven.  Bengel  says  on  this  passage: 
"To  wait  for  the  Son  of  God  is  the  most  appropriate  mark 
of  a  true  Christian."  Calvin  says:  "In  the  service  of 
God,  which  in  the  corruption  of  our  nature  is  a  more  than 
difficult  matter,  we  are  kept  and  established  by  the  expect- 
ation of  Christ;  otherwise  the  world  drags  us  back  to  itself, 
and  we  grow  weary."  Yaughan  says  :  "A  summary  of 
the  Christian  life  at  all  times:  service  and  expectation. 
The  loss  or  disparagement  of  either  has  been  at  all  times 
the  cause  of  injury  to  the  Church.  The  one  by  itself 
degenerates  into  a  dry  routine  of  duty;  the  other  into 
excitement,  dreaminess  and  indolent  sentiment.  The  two 
together  make  up  that  life  of  practical  piety  which  is  the 
true  end  and  chief  glory  of  the  Gospel." 

In  the  third  chapter,  twelfth  and  thirteenth  verses,  the 
Apostle  writes,  "And  the  Lord  make  you  to  increase  arid 
abound  in  love  one  toward  the  other,  and  toward  all  men, 
even  as  we  do  toward  you;  to  the  end  lie  may  establish 
your  hearts,  unblamable  in  holiness,  before  God,  even  our 
Father,  at  the  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  with  all 
his  saints." 

The  aim  and  end  of  increasing  and  abounding  in  broth- 


448  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

erly  love,  and  in  affectionate  interest  in  all  mankind,  is,  as 
here  set  forth,  the  establishment  of  our  hearts  in  holiness, 
that  when  we  pass  under  the  scrutinizing  gaze  of  God,  at 
the  coming  of  our  Lord,  we  may  be  found  unblamable  in 
holiness  before  Him.  The  tendency  of  love  is  to  promote 
holiness  and  give  to  the  heart  a  steadfastness  in  obeying 
the  will  of  God,  for  « love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law." 
(Horns.  13:  10.)  Thus  we  see  how  brotherly  love,  like 
every  other  Christian  virtue,  points  to  the  second  coming, 
and  is  stimulated  by  it  and  made  tributary  to  that  "  holi- 
ness, without  which  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord."  (Heb. 
12:  14.)  In  the  closing  chapter  of  the  Epistle,  believers 
are  exhorted  to  "  rejoice  always,  pray  without  ceasing,  in 
every  thing  give  thanks,  to  quench  not  the  spirit;  hold  fast 
that  which  is  good  and  abstain  from  every  form  of  evil." 
Then  follows  a  prayer  that  that  may  be  done  which  God 
alone  can  do:  "But  may  the  God  of  Peace  Himself  sanc- 
tify you  wholly;  and  I  pray  God  your  whole  spirit,  and 
soul  and  body,  be  presented  blameless  unto  the  coming  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  (v.  23.) 

This  prayer  answered,  and  the  climax  of  spiritual 
growth  and  blessedness  is  reached,  and  who  is  there  that 
rightly  apprehends  the  doctrine  we  are  considering  and  is 
alive  to  its  importance;  whose  heart  is  open  to  the  exhorta- 
tions and  appeals  that  the  Holy  Ghost  makes  to  us,  in  view 
of  our  Lord's  declaration,  "Behold,  I  come  quickly;"  who 
will  not  offer  for  himself  the  prayer  that  the  Peace  of  God, 
the  author  and  source  of  peace,  may  sanctify  him  wholly; 
and  that  His  Spirit,  the  higher  principle  of  intelligence 
that  renders  us  capable  of  partaking  of  the  Divine  nature; 
and  soul,  the  seat  of  animal  life,  with  its  powers  and  interests; 
and  the  body,  that  is  the  whole  being,  may  be  preserved 
blameless  unto  the  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ?  " 

Our  doctrine  is  a  powerful  incentive  to  fidelity  in  the 


HOPE  OF  CHRIST'S  COMING.  449 

outward  activities  of  the  Christian  life.  It  is  thus  presented 
in  several  of  the  parables  of  our  Lord.  While  some  of  His 
parables  present  the  inward  and  contemplative  side  of 
the  Christian  life,  others  set  forth  the  active  side.  In  the 
25th  chapter  of  Matthew  we  have  the  parables  of  the  ten 
virgins  and  of  the  talents  distributed  by  the  Lord  to  His 
servants.  The  first  represents  those  who  are  waiting  for 
the  Lord,  and  the  second  those  who  are  working  for  Him. 
The  disappointment  of  the  foolish  virgins  is  a  warning 
against  the  absence  or  decay  of  the  inward  spiritual  life, 
while  the  forms  of  religion  are  observed.  The  talents  refer 
to  the  capacities  and  gifts  given  to  us,  with  the  means  and 
opportunities  afforded  for  increase  and  usefulness  in  the 
Kingdom  of  God.  The  rewards  held  out  are  to  stimulate 
us  to  diligence  and  fidelity  in  laboring  for  the  Master,  and 
the  doom  of  the  wicked  and  slothful  servant  is  a  warning 
against  sluggishness  and  the  neglect  of  the  outward  work 
committed  to  us. 

The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has  gone  into  a  far  country. 
Previous  to  His  departure,  or  ascension,  He  delivered  to 
His  servants,  His  Apostles,  whom  He  particularly  addressed, 
and  to  all  His  followers  His  goods.  He  made  over  to  them 
the  interests  of  His  Kingdom,  and  furnished  them  with 
the  means  for  carrying  forward  the  good  work  which  He 
had  begun.  "  Unto  one  He  gave  five  talents,  to  another 
two,  and  to  another  one:  to  every  man  according  to  his 
several  (or  his  own)  ability,"  according  to  his  capacity  to 
use  the  gifts,  spiritual  or  material,  given  to  him.  Every 
one  has  his  endowments  and  gifts,  and  a  sacred  mission  to 
fulfill,  during  the  Lord's  absence.  The  fact  that  gives 
sacredness  to  our  work,  and  is  calculated  to  stimulate  us  to 
the  greatest  fidelity  in  the  use  of  our  power,  acquisitions, 
time,  wealth,  influences,  and  opportunities,  is  the  certainty 
that  our  Lord  will  return  and  reckon  with  us.  As  expressed 
29 


450  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

in  the  parable,  "  After  a  long  time,  the  Lord  of  those  ser- 
vants cometh  and  reckoneth  with  them.  And  so  he  that  had 
received  five  talents  brought  other  five  talents  saying,  Lord, 
thou  deliverest  unto  me  five  talents:  behold  I  have  gained 
beside  them  five  talents  more.  His  Lord  said  unto  him, 
Well  done  thou  good  and  faithful  servant:  thou  hast  been 
faithful  over  a  few  things,  I  will  make  thee  ruler  over 
many  things;  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord."  (Matt. 
25:19-21.) 

This  we  must  regard  as  the  judgment  of  the  Pre-Mil- 
lennial  Advent,  when  the  saints  will  be  judged  and  rewarded 
according  to  their  works.  The  parable  recorded  in  Luke 
19:12,  13,  is  similar  in  many  points  to  this.  "He  said, 
therefore,  a  certain  nobleman  went  into  a  far  country  to 
receive  for  himself  a  kingdom  and  to  return.  And  he 
called  his  ten  servants  and  delivered  them  ten  pounds,  and 
said  unto  them,  Occupy  till  I  come." 

"This  parable  of  the  Pounds,"  says  Lange,  "places 
visibly  before  our  eyes  not  only  the  life  calling  of  the 
Apostles,  but  also  that  of  all  believers.  From  the  fact  that 
here  ten  servants  appear  who  all  receive  the  same,  the 
diversity  recedes  before  the  unity.  As  bondservants  for 
their  Lord  they  are  called  to  wait  for  his  return,  and  that 
not  in  inactive  rest,  but  in  jealous  activity.  They  have  not 
to  contend  with  carnal  weapons  against  His  enemies,  but  in 
the  midst  of  all  opposition,  quietly  to  proceed  with  their 
labors.  In  the  humble  position  of  witnesses  to  the  faith, 
they  must  seek,  with  word  and  deed  to  spread  abroad  God's 
Kingdom,  and  expect  their  share  in  the  government  of  the 
world,  not  before,  but  only  after  the  personal  return  of  the 
Lord.  The  success  of  their  endeavors  is  differently  modi- 
fied, according  to  the  diversity  of  time,  talents,  and  energies; 
but  the  reward  is  suited  to  the  different  deserts.  In  every 
case  it  is  in  proportion  to  that  which  is  demanded  and 


HOPE  OF  CHRISTS  COMING.  451 

accomplished.  For  the  ten  pounds,  which  the  best  one 
gained,  he  would  scarcely  have  been  able  to  buy  a  horse, 
and  he  is  placed  over  ten  cities;  but  never  does  a  reward 
fall  to  the  portion  of  the  slothful  one,  who  has  contented 
merely  with  this  that  he  did  no  positive  harm.  To  gain 
nothing  is  the  way  to  lose  all,  and  the  injury  one  prepares 
for  himself  by  his  own  unfaithfulness  appears  as  irrevocable." 
We  pass  next  to  consider  a  duty,  in  connection  with  our 
Lord's  coming,  which  He  Himself  presents  to  His  Churchy 
in  various  forms,  calculated  to  awaken  attention,  in  lan- 
guage indicating  the  deepest  earnestness  and  solicitude; 
and  in  appeals  that  should  sweep  over  Christendom  and 
arouse  the  most  indifferent  to  the  startling  and  stupendous 
events  that  at  any  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye, 
may  burst  upon  us.  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as  recorded 
in  Matt.  24:  42-44-,  said  :  "  Watch,  therefore;  for  ye  know 
not  what  hour  your  Lord  doth  come.  But  know  this,  that 
if  the  good  man  of  the  house  had  known  in  what  watch 
the  thief  would  come  he  would  not  have  suifered  his  house 
to  be  broken  up.  Therefore,  be  ye  also  ready ;  for  in  such 
an  hour  as  ye  think  not  the  Son  of  Man  cometh."  At  the 
close  of  the  parable  of  the  ten  virgins,  Christ  -adds,  "  Watch, 
therefore,  for  ye  know  neither  the  day  nor  the  hour  wherein 
the  Son  of  Man  cometh."  (Matt.  25:13.)  The  elements 
of  Christian  watchfulness  are  wakefulness,  alertness,  activ- 
ity and  circumspection.  The  motives  for  it  are  the  cer- 
tainty of  Christ's  coming;  the  suddenness  of  His  coming 
and  its  decisive  character  in  determining  the  destiny  of  the 
whole  human  family.  What  is  required  of  the  watchers 
and  their  reward,  are  thus  set  forth  by  our  Lord:  "Let 
your  loins  be  girded  about  (so  as  to  be  ready  for  instant 
active  service),  and  your  lights  burning  (prepared  for  the 
midnight  cry);  and  ye  yourselves  like  unto  men  that  wait 
for  their  Lord,  when  He  shall  return  from  the  wedding; 


452  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

that  when  He  cometh  and  knocketh,  they  may  open  to 
Him  immediately  (thus  showing  that  they  have  not  fallen 
asleep).  Blessed  are  those  servants  whom  the  Lord  when 
He  cometh  shall  find  watching;  verily,  I  say  unto  you  that 
He  shall  gird  Himself,  and  make  them  to  set  down  to  meat, 
and  will  come  forth  and  serve  them.  And  if  He  shall 
come  in  the  second  watch,  or  come  in  the  third  watch,  and 
find  them  so,  blessed  are  those  servants."  (Luke  12: 35,  38.) 
He  says  nothing  about  coming  in  the  first  or  fourth 
watches  of  the  night,  but  refers  to  those  that  are  nearest 
midnight,  when  the  tendency  to  fall  asleep  is  the  greatest, 
and  therefore  must  be  vigorously  resisted.  But  whether 
He  comes  sooner  or  later,  all  who  are  found  fully  awake  to 
His  coming  and  faithful  at  their  posts  will  be  rewarded, 
and  such  a  reward!  He  in  turn  will  gird  Himself,  and  will 
open  to  His  servants  a  splendid  banquet,  furnished  with 
the  most  costly  viands,  in  imitation  of  the  ancient  Hebrews 
who  gave  their  servants  a  share  in  the  sacred  feasts.  "  And 
He  will  come  forth  and  serve  them  !  "  What  honors  are 
implied  and  promised  here  to  those  whom  He  shall  find 
watching.  Majus  says:  "There  is  an  instant  on  which 
eternity  hangs;  in  an  instant  all  may  be  squandered  and 
lost;  therefore  must  we  ever  watch — all  should  watch, 
especially  ministers,  whose  business  is  to  quicken  others  to 
watchfulness." 

The  closing  words  of  the  Westminster  Confession  of 
Faith  are  clear  and  emphatic  in  regard  to  this  duty.  "As 
Christ  would  have  us  to  be  certainly  persuaded  that  there 
shall  be  a  day  of  judgment,  both  to  deter  all  men  from  sin 
and  for  the  greater  consolation  of  the  godly  in  their  advers- 
ity, so  will  He  have  that  day  unknown  to  men,  that  they 
may  shake  off  all  carnal  security,  and  be  always  watchful, 
because  they  know  not  at  what  hour  the  Lord  will  come; 
and  may  be  ever  prepared  to  say,  Come,  Lord  Jesus;  come 
quickly.  Amen." 


HOPE  OF  CHRISTS  COMING.  453 

St.  Paul  thus  addresses  his  brethren  on  this  point:  "  Ye 
brethren  are  not  in  darkness,  that  that  day  should  overtake 
you  as  a  thief.  Ye  are  all  the  children  of  light,  and  the 
children  of  the  day;  we  are  not  of  the  night,  nor  of  dark- 
ness. Therefore,  let  us  not  sleep  as  do  others;  but  let  us 
watch  and  be  sober."  (1  Thess.  5:4,  6.) 

Children  of  the  light  should  not  sleep,  that  is,  be  in  a 
dull,  sluggish  state,  unsusceptible  to  the  influence  of  spiritual 
things,  and  especially  of  those  pertaining  to  the  day  of  the 
Lord. 

They  should  be  awake,  and  thoroughly  alive  to  what  is 
transpiring  around  them.  They  are  not  called  to  be  proph- 
ets, but  diligent  students  of  the  prophecies.  They  are  not 
called  to  curiously  inquire  unto  the  day  and  hour  of  the 
coming  of  the  Lord,  but  to  notice  the  signs  of  His  appear- 
ing, and  be  prepared  for  the  grand  event.  They  are  to 
listen  to  every  sound,  every  bugle  note  that  heralds  the 
approach  of  the  Great  King.  They  are  to  watch  the  march 
of  providential  events,  and  carefully  weighing  their  import, 
are  not  to  be  carried  away  by  delusive  spectacles.  Children 
of  the  light  occupy  the  heights  of  observation,  and  see  afar 
beyond  the  pomp  and  pride  of  ecclesiastical  formalism; 
beyond  the  camps  of  the  enemy,  to  the  distant,  wide  hori- 
zon that  at  any  moment  may  be  lighted  up  with  the  splen- 
dors of  Him  who  is  coming  to  take  His  great  power  and 
rule  among  the  nations.  The  commotions  and  evils  in 
society  do  not  alarm  them,  for  they  have  been  told  "that 
in  the  last  days  perilous  times  shall  come;"  and  for  their 
own  safety  they  have  the  assurance  given  to  the  redeemed, 
"  He  shall  dwell  on  high;  His  place  of  defence  shall  be  the 
munitions  of  rocks.  *  *  Thine  eyes  shall  see  the  King  in 
His  beauty;  they  shall  behold  the  land  that  is  very  far  off." 

The  Apostle  Paul,  after  obeying  himself  every  injunction 
of  his  Lord  relating  to  His  second  coming,  and  after 


454  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

unfolding  this  truth  with  clearness  and  power  that  divine 
inspiration  alone  could  give  him,  associated  it  with  the 
shout  of  victory  with  which  he  greets  the  hour  of  his 
departure  from  earth,  and  sends  forth  a  promise  to  cheer 
all  those  who  "  love  His  appearing."  While  solemnly 
exhorting  the  beloved  Timothy  to  fidelity  in  his  ministerial 
work,  he  says  :  "  For  I  am  now  ready  to  be  offered  up, 
and  the  time  of  my  departure  is  at  hand.  I  have  fought 
a  good  fight,  I  have  finished  my  course,  I  have  kept  the 
faith;  henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  right- 
eousness, which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  Judge,  shall  give 
me  at  that  day;  and  not  to  me  only,  but  unto  all  them, 
also,  that  love  His  appearing.  (II.  Tim.  4.,  6-8.)  "  That 
day,"  the  day  of  the  personal  coming  of  the  Lord,  is  still 
the  theme  upmost  in  his  mind.  It  sheds  its  lustre  over  the 
last  hours  of  his  earthly  career.  It  pours  its  brightness 
upon  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death.  It  fills  him  with 
the  spirit  of  exultation  and  triumph.  It  holds  for  him  a 
crown  of  righteousness,  not  indeed  merited,  but  his,  as  a 
full  partaker  of  the  righteousness  which  is  by  faith  in  Christ. 
He  has  fought  the  good  fight  and  obtained  the  victory,  and  the 
prize  is  laid  up  for  him.  It  is  there  already,  to  be  publicly 
given  him  by  the  Lord,  the  righteous  Judge,  at  that  day. 

"And  not  to  me  only,  but  unto  all  them,  also,  that  love 
His  appearing."  To  all  who  look  forward  with  affectionate 
longing  to  His  coming,  who  anticipate  the  event  with 
delight,  a  crown  of  righteousness  will  be  given  in  the  pres- 
ence of  saints  and  angels  by  the  glorious  Lord  Himself. 
This  state  of  mind  presupposes  obedience  to  all  the  injunc- 
tions arid  exhortations  from  Christ  and  His  Apostles  that 
we  have  considered;  and  through  these  the  highest  degree 
of  spiritual  life.  And  on  the  other  hand  to  love  His 
appearing  is  fitted  more  than  anything  else  to  pro- 
mote Christian  activity,  brotherly  love  and  holy  living,  to 


HOPE  OF  CHRIST'S  COMING.  455 

the  end  He  may  establish  our  hearts  unblamable  in  holi- 
ness before  God,  even  our  Father  at  the  coming  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  with  all  His  saints."  (1  Thess.  3: 13.) 

Hear,  in  conclusion,  the  words  of  the  King  of  Kings, 
who  is  already  on  His  way  with  the  heavenly  hosts  : 
"  Behold,  I  come  quickly,  hold  fast  that  which  thou  hast, 
that  no  man  take  thy  crown.  Him  that  overcometh  or 
conquereth,  will  I  make  a  pillar  in  the  temple  of  My  God, 
an  honored,  permanent  and  eternally  consecrated  priest,  or 
inmate  of  the  heavenly  temple;  and  he  shall  never  more 
go  out;  and  I  will  write  upon  him  the  name  of  My  God," 
signifying  His  complete  righteousness  and  oneness  with 
the  Father,  "  and  the  name  of  the  city  of  My  God." 
When  upon  the  earth  his  citizenship  was  in  Heaven.  But 
then  it  was  latent,  now  it  is  manifested,  and  He  is  known 
as  an  inhabitant  of  the  city  of  the  Living  God,  and  is  free 
to  enter  it  according  to  the  promise  in  Rev.  22: 12-14: 
" Behold,  I  come  quickly;  and  My  reward  is  with  Me  to 
give  to  every  man  according  as  his  work  shall  be.  Blessed 
are  they  that  keep  His  commandments,  that  they  have 
right  to  the  tree  of  life,  and  may  enter  in  through  the 
gates  into  the  city."  "And  I  will  write  upon  him  My 
new  name ;"  that  wonderful,  mysterious  name,  that  at 
present  is  uncommunicable.  It  is  referred  to  in  that  most 
sublime  vision  of  the  coming  King  in  the  19th  chapter 
of  Revelations,  "  and  He  had  a  name  written,  that  no  man 
knew  but  Himself."  It  was  none  of  the  names  or  titles 
by  which  He  was  known  on  earth.  He  calls  it  "  My  new 
name,"  a  name,  doubtless,  indicative  of  His  final  triumph 
and  complete  union  with  His  saints,  who  henceforth  are  to 
share  with  Him  the  glory  of  His  Kingdom. 

Twice,  in  the  closing  chapter  of  the  Bible  does  Christ 
say,  "Behold,  I  come  quickly."  The  third  time  he  says, 
"Surely  I  come  quickly."  Even  so,  come,  Lord  Jesus. 


456  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


ADDRESSES. 


THE  RETURN  OF  CHRIST  AND  FOREIGN 
MISSIONS. 

BY  THE  REV.  W.  P.  MACKAY,  D.D.,  PRESBYT2RTAN,  HULL,  ENGLAND. 

IN  Acts  1 : 6  we  find  the  disciples  asking  our  Lord  after  His 
resurrection,  and  before  His  ascension,  "  How  wilt  Thou 
at  this  time  restore  again  the  Kingdom  of  Israel."  And 
His  answer  is  remarkable,  taken  in  connection  with  what 
He  said  to  the  same  men  in  Matt.  24:  33,  where  he  indicates 
that  they  were  to  look  for  signs,  etc.  In  Acts,  however,  He 
says,  "  It  is  not  for  you  to  know  the  times  or  the  seasons  which 
the  Father  hath  put  in  His  own  power,  but  ye  shall  receive 
power  after  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  come  upon  you,  and  ye 
shall  be  witnesses  unto  Me  both  in  Jerusalem  and  in  all 
Judaea,  and  in  Samaria,  and  unto  the  uttermost  part  of  the 
earth."  Signs,  times  and  seasons,  as  we  find  from  Daniel, 
are  for  the  Jewish  people.  He  addressed  the  twelve  in 
Matthew  when  He  is  the  King  of  the  Jews.  As  represent- 
ative Jews.  Here  He  speaks  to  them  as  those  who  are  to 
be  the  nucleus  of  His  Church  and  witnesses  to  Him  till 
His  return.  The  Holy  Ghost  was  given  for  power  in  Jeru- 
salem (Acts  2:4)  and  in  Samaria  (Acts  8:  IT),  and  among 
the  Gentiles  (Acts  10: 44),  so  that  the  promise  of  the  Father 
was  fulfilled  and  the  power  from  heaven  bestowed. 

They  began  well,  as  the  record  of  the  day  of  Pentecost 
shows,  but  while  they  faithfully  began  at  Jerusalem  they 
delayed  going  to  Samaria  and  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  we 
find  that  God  sent  a  persecution  to  scatter  them  (Acts  8:1), 


RETURN  OF  CHRIST  AND  FOREIGN  MISSIONS.    457 

"and  at  that  time  there  was  a  great  persecution  against  the 
Church  which  was  at  Jerusalem,  and  they  were  all  scattered 
abroad  throughout  the  regions  of  Judaea  and  Samaria  " — 
but  mark  the  exception — "  except  the  Apostles"  the  very 
men  to  whom  Christ  gave  the  commission  thus  gave  it  up 
very  quickly,  and  a  new  Apostle  is  called  out  to  perform  the 
work.  Paul,  who  up  to  this  time  had  been  a  persecutor,  is- 
called  to  the  apostalate  in  a  miraculous  and  heavenly  man- 
ner, so  that  he  was  not  an  Apostle  by  education  and  the 
training  of  the  Lord  on  the  earth,  as  Matthew  had  been 
chosen,  but  as  he  says  in  Rom  1:1:  "  An  Apostle  by  call."1 
And  the  Lord's  purpose  with  regard  to  him  was  (Acts  9:15), 
"  He  is  a  chosen  vessel  unto  Me,  to  bear  My  name  before 
the  Gentiles  and  Kings,  and  the  children  of  Israel/'  This 
he  aimed  at,  as  He  Himself  writes  in  Rom.  15: 19,  "From 
Jerusalem  and  round  about  unto  Illyricum  I  have  fully 
preached  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  .  .  .  Whensoever  I 
take  my  journey  into  Spain  I  will  come  to  you  (at  Rome)." 
And  to  a  great  extent  he  was  successful,  as  we  read  in  Colos- 
sians  1:  23:  "  Be  not  moved  away  from  the  hope  of  the 
Gospel  which  ye  have  heard  and  which  was  preached  to 
every  creature  which  is  under  heaven,  whereof  I,  Paul,  am 
made  a  minister."  That  could  be  said  in  no  sense  in  the 
present  day.  And  Paul  was  the  man,  above  all  men,  who 
inculcated  the  waiting  for  God's  Son  from  heaven.  Was  it  a 
spiritual  Christ  that  Paul  saw  on  his  way  to  Damascus? 
Nay,  it  was  a  Man  in  the  glory  that  he  saw,  and  he  never 
forgot  it.  It  was  no  spirit,  no  angel.  And  in  this  Man  he 
believed,  for  this  Man  he  wrought  and  witnessed,  and  for 
this  Man  he  waited ;  turned  to  God  from  idols  to  serve  the 
living  and  true  God,  and  to  wait  for  His  Son  from  heaven. 
This  witnessing  of  the  Christian  to  the  absent  Lord  is  his 
true  and  highest  function,  whether  we  look  at  the  end  of  a 
poor  lost  world,  the  nature  of  the  Christian's  life,  or  the  com- 


458  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

mand  of  his  absent  Lord.  The  world  is  needy.  Human- 
ity is  a  failure.  The  Bible  is  the  history  of  it.  From 
Eden  to  the  Great  White  Throne  man  has  failed.  Even  at 
the  end  of  the  millennium,  unregenerate  man  shows  the  most 
lamentable  of  all  failures.  There  is  no  hope  for  him  but  in 
the  grace  of  God,  the  work  of  Christ,  and  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  the  Christian  carries  these  to  lost  human- 
ity, a  light  to  a  dark  world,  salt  in  a  needy  earth.  "  No 
man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time,"  we  find  twice  stated  in 
Scripture.  (John  1:18  and  1  John  4:  12.)  The  only  begot- 
ten Son  declares  Him  in  the  Gospel  according  to  John. 
But  since  He  has  been  rejected,  believers  now  manifest  God, 
as  seen  in  the  Epistle.  "  Which  thing  is  true  in  Him  and 
in  you;  because  the  darkness  is  past  and  the  true  light  now 
shineth."  (1  John  2:8.)  The  child  of  God  is  not  only 
born  of  water,  and  has  within  him  a  well  of  living  water, 
but  from  him  rivers  of  living  water  are  to  flow,  carrying  the 
life  of  God  to  a  dead  world.  "  God  hath  given  to  us  the  min- 
istry of  reconciliation,  to  wit,  that  God  was  in  Christ  (when 
He  was  on  earth)  reconciling  the  world  unto  Himself,  and 
hath  committed  (in  His  absence)  unto  us  the  word  of  recon- 
ciliation." (2  Cor.  5: 18, 19.)  If  the  government  of  Great 
Britain  set  apart  all  its  army,  fleet  and  exchequer  to  send 
forth  a  message  to  every  nation  on  the  earth  it  would  not 
take  eighteen  hundred  years  to  do  it.  And  our  Master  said, 
"  All  power  is  given  to  Me  in  heaven  and  earth,  go  ye 
therefore"  We  are  to  go  because  He  has  all  power.  It 
still  lies  there  for  faith  to  pick  up  and  appropriate.  And 
how  comes  it  that  we  are  further  from  obedience  to  this 
commission  than  the  Apostle  Paul  was?  Simply  because  we 
have  not  kept  on  in  the  line  of  His  example  in  his  work  of 
faith,  labors  of  love  and  patience  of  faith. 

The  Church  has  been  farming  high-patches,  and  leaving 
the  great  mass  of  men   untouched — settling  at  Jerusalem 


RETURN  OF  CHRIST  AND  FOREIGN  MISSIONS.    459 

and  forgetting  Samaria  and  the  uttermost  ends  of  the  earth. 
There  are  30,000  evangelical  preachers  in  Great  Britain 
alone;  50,000  and  more  on  this  continent;  80,000  men  on  the 
two  hands  of  the  body,  and  the  rest  of  the  body  uncared  for, 
close  upon  a  thousand  millions  of  people  who  never  heard 
that  there  was  a  Christ.  Some  would  persuade  us  that  we 
should  not  go  to  Africa  till  all  New  York  was  converted. 
They  will  never  get  to  Africa.  We  maintain  that  every 
man,  woman,  and  child,  in  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States,  could  hear  of  Christ  if  they  desired,  and  it  is  now 
time  for  battalions  of  missionaries  to  move  off  to  foreign 
lands. 

General  Yon  Moltke,  at  the  battle  of  Gravelotte,  sent  in 
regiment  after  regiment  to  certain  destruction,  but  he 
turned  the  left  flank  of  his  enemy.  We  require  regiments 
of  willing  brothers  faithful  unto  death. 

We  have  failed  simply  because  we  have  been  aiming  at 
universal  conversion  and  not  at  universal  evangelisation. 
We  have  been  trying  to  convert  patches  and  not  evangelize 
the  whole.  This  is  not  the  age  of  universal  conversion ;  that 
is  the  age  that  is  to  come.  Let  us  hearken  to  one  of  the 
Apostles:  "Simeon  hath  declared  how  God  at  the  first  did 
visit  the  Gentiles  .to  take  out  of  them  a  people  for  His 
name."  Here  there  is  no  indication  whatever  that  the 
Gentiles  were  to  be  totally  brought  to  God,  and  no  man 
has  need  to  say  to  his  neighbor,  "Know  the  Lord."  So 
Christ  taught  His  disciples  that  during  His  absence  they 
were  to  act  like  fishermen  with  a  drag  net,  and  go  over 
the  sea  and  catch  a  netful  of  fishes,  not  the  fullness  of 
the  seas. 

Instead  of  this,  the  Church  has  been  abiding  by  one  or 
two  favorite  pools  and  endeavoring  to  catch  every  fish  in- 
stead of  passing  along  though  the  whole  sea.  The  not  under- 
standing the  character  of  the  present  dispensation,  linked 


460  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

to  that  innate  selfishness  that  still  adheres  to  us  all,  is  at 
the  root  of  all  this  disgraceful  disobedience.  I  trust  that 
one  great  outcome  from  this  Conference  will  be  a  deeper 
intelligence  concerning  the  revealed  purposes  of  our  Lord, 
greater  faithfulness  to  His  parting  Commission,  and  closer 
sympathy  with  His  heart  of  love  for  a  perishing  world. 
When  He  gave  His  marching  orders,  He  did  not  say:  "And 
lo,  nations  shall  be  born  at  once."  He  did  not  say,  "  All 
will  be  converted  before  you."  No  such  thought  is  ever 
found  in  the  New  Testament,  but  as  witnesses  to  a  rejected 
Christ,  we  are  to  go  to  all  the  world,  while  He  says,  "  Lo,  I 
am  with  you  always."  He  knew  how  much  we  would 
require  His  presence.  He  knew  that  the  messenger  would 
be  rejected  as  the  Messiah  had  been.  His  presence,  not 
our  success,  was  to  be  our  comfort.  He  is  a  poor  servant 
who  goes  merely  by  success.  At  the  day  of  reward  the 
word  will  not  be,  Well  done,  good  and  successful  servant, 
but,  "  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant."  We  can  not 
command  success.  We  can  all  aim  at  faithfulness.  "  Be 
thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will  give  thee  a  crown  of 
life,"  the  Master  said  to  those  who  were  to  be  His  witnesses, 
not  to  be  received,  but  to  be  murdered.  Faithful  in  the 
little,  we  shall  be  rewarded  with  the  crown  that  He  will 
give,  for  "if  we  suffer  with  Him  we  shall  also  reign  with 
Him — we  shall  be  glorified  together."  To-day  is  the  day  of 
the  Cross,  and  our  witnessing  to  Him  to  the  uttermost 
ends  of  the  earth.  The  glory,  the  crown,  the  reward  will 
soon  be  here,  and,  above  all,  He  Himself — the  Man  of  Cal- 
vary— the  Man  that  Stephen  saw  at  the  right  hand,  tluit 
§aul  saw  on  his  way  to  Damascus,  will  appear  in  royal 
glory,  to  put  down  all  the  wrong  and  exalt  all  the  right; 
to  put  down  all  rule  and  authority  opposed  to  God,  and 
reign  in  righteousness  over  a  sin-blighted  world. 


RETURN  OF  CHRIST  AND  FOREIGN  MISSIONS.    461 

Then  weep  no  more,  'tis  all  thine  own, 

His  Cross  and  Crown  divine; 
But  better  far  than  all  beside, 

Himself,  the  Lord,  is  thine. 
The  Bride  eyes  not  her  garment 

But  her  dear  Bridegroom's  face. 
I  will  not  gaze  on  glory, 

But  on  my  King  of  grace ; 
Not  on  the  crown  He  giveth, 

But  on  His  pierced  hand. 
The  Lamb  is  all  the  glory 

Of  Immanuel's  land 


SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  LORD  IN  ITS  RELATIONS 
TO  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 

BY  THE  KEY.  DR.  B.  R.  CRAVEN,  PASTOR   THIRD  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH, 
NEWARK,  N.  J. 

I  HAVE  heard  that  it  has  been  said  that  Pre-Millennarians 
constitute  the  "  infant  class  "  in  Theology.  Most  willingly, 
gladly,  do  I  take  the  place  thus  assigned  me,  for  I  have  not 
now  to  learn  that  the  Master  often  hides  the  great  things 
of  His  Kingdom  "  from  the  wise  and  prudent  and  reveals 
them  unto  babes."  I  can  conceive  of  no  higher  honor,  no 
greater  blessedness  on  earth  or  in  heaven,  than  to  sit  as  a 
child  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  and  drink  in  the  words  of  instruc- 
tion as  they  fall  from  His  lips.  God  grant  that  with  the 
simplicity  of  a  child  I  may  learn  the  truth  from  Him  to-day, 
and  that  with  like  simplicity  I  may  recite  it. 

1  have  been  requested,  not  to  read  a  formal  paper,  but  to 
deliver  an  address  on  the  Relations  of  the  Coming  of  Christ 
to  Christian  Doctrine.  It  can  not,  of  course,  be  expected 
or  desired  that  I  should  retraverse  the  subject  so  fully  and 
ably  presented  last  night.  I  shall,  therefore,  confine  my 
remarks  to  a  brief  discussion  of  the  relation  of  the  Pre- 
Millennial  Advent  to  the  Catholic  doctrine  concerning  the 
Office  of  the  Spirit  in  Regeneration,  and  one  cognate  sub- 
ject. 

The  central  doctrine  of  Pre  -  Millennarianism  is  this : 
That  an  Advent  of  Christ,  in  His  glorified  body,  is  ever 
imminent  for  the  establishment  of  what  is  generally  known 
as  the  Millennium.  We  believe  that  when  the  Gospel  of 
the  Kingdom  has  been  preached  as  a  witness  in  every  land 
(as  it  has  already  been) — that  when  the  elect  number  (the 


ITS  RELATIONS  TO  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 

pleroma,  the  fulness)  of  the  Gentiles  has  been  gathered  in 
(which  may  be,  for  aught  we  know,  before  the  sun  sets, 
which  rnay  not  be  for  centuries;  we  who  stand  on  this 
platform  are  no  calculators  of  the  secret  things  which  God 
reserves  in  His  own  knowledge) — we  believe  that  then  the 

O     J 

Redeemer  shall  come  to  Zion;  that  then  He  shall  destroy 
Antichrist  by  the  brightness  of  His  Appearing;  that  then 
He  shall  gather  now-blinded  Israel  to  His  side;  that  then 
"  the  kingdom  and  dominion  and  greatness  of  the  king- 
dom under  the  whole  heavens  shall  be  given  to  the  people 
of  the  Saints  of  the  Most  High." 

The  Catholic  doctrine,  which  this  is  said  to  contravene, 
is,  that  it  is  the  office  of  the  Spirit  to  apply  the  redemption 
purchased  by  Christ — that  the  Spirit  is  the  Renewer.  This 
doctrine  we  believe  and  proclaim  as  completely,  we  think, 
as  any  class  of  men.  It  may  be  said,  however,  that  what- 
ever our  thoughts  may  be,  the  doctrine  of  a  Pre-Millennial 
Advent  is  logically  inconsistent  therewith  —  inconsistent 
either  with  the  continuance  of  the  Spirit's  office  after  the 
appearance  of  Christ,  or  with  His  dignity  in  the  exercise 
thereof. 

That  our  doctrine  is  not,  in  Jehovah's  esteem,  inconsist- 
ent with  the  idea  of  the  continuance  of  the  Spirit's  office 
in  a  glorious  and  miraculous  Appearing  of  Jesus  is  man- 
ifest from  the  declarations  of  the  Scriptures.  The  Apostle 
Paul  was  called  and  converted  in  such  an  Appearing. 
(Acts  9:  3-10.)  And  yet  he  writes  to  Titus  (3:  5):  "  Accord- 
ing  to  His  mercy  He  saved  us  (not  you,  but  us,  includ- 
ing Himself)  by  the  washing  of  regeneration  and  the 
renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  The  Apostle,  be  it  remem- 
bered, was  "as  one  born  out  of  due  time"  (1  Cor.  15:  8), 
not  late,  but  early.  He  was  born,  not  as  a  lagging  mem- 
ber of  a  brotherhood  already  called,  but  as  the  elder  brother 
of  blinded,  persecuting  Israel,  "  the  pattern  of  them  that 


464  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

should  afterward  believe  "  when  the  Lord  should  rend  the 
veil  from  their  hearts.  He  was  the  type  of  those  to  be 
in  like  manner  effectually  called  in  the  day  when  the 
promise  spoken  by  Zech^riah  (12: 10)  shall  be  fulfilled — 
"  I  will  pour  upon  the  house  of  David  and  upon  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Jerusalem  the  Spirit  of  grace  and  supplications; 
and  they  shall  look  upon  Me  whom  they  have  pierced." 
The  glorious  Appearing  unto  Paul  was  but  the  harbinger 
— the  morning  star — of  the  day  which  shall  yet  be;  the 
work  of  the  Spirit  wrought  in  him  was  but  the  earnest 
of  that  which  shall  then  be  wrought  in  now  benighted 
Israel. 

It  may  be  said,  however,  that  whilst  our  doctrine  is  not 
inconsistent  with  the  continuance  of  the  Spirit's  work,  it  is 
inconsistent  with  His  dignity  in  that  continuance.  This 
objection  can  proceed  on  only  one  of  two  foundations,  both 
of  which  I  will  briefly  consider. 

The  first  is  that  our  doctrine  implies  that  the  Spirit  can 
not  renew  the  world  by  existing  instrumentalities — that  the 
Spirit  is  unable  to  renew  it  without  the  presence  of  Jesus. 
We  hold  no  such  heresy  as  this,  nor  is  it  logically  connected 
with  our  doctrine.  That  the  Spirit  will  not  thus  act  with- 
out the  presence  of  our  Lord  we  believe  and  affirm — that 
He  can  not,  we  deny.  We  believe,  I  believe,  that  the 
Spirit  could  have  converted  Paul,  even  as  he  converted 
Titus,  without  the  intervention  of  a  glorious  Epiphany. 
We  believe  that  under  the  simple  preaching  of  the  Gospel, 
by  a  babe,  He  could  bring  every  sinner  that  now  walks  the 
earth  to  the  knowledge  and  confession  of  the  truth.  The 
question  we  are  considering  is  one  of  purpose,  not  of  nat- 
ural ability.  Do  our  opponents  measure  what  the  Spirit 
can  do  by  what  He  does?  Do  they  hold  that  the  fact,  that 
the  Spirit  has  not  converted  the  world  by  the  preaching  of 
the  Gospel  during  eighteen  centuries,  manifests  His  inabil- 


ITS  DELATIONS  TO  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE.        465 

ity  to  do  it?  This  is  the  logical  sequence  of  the  objection. 
I  repeat  it,  the  question  we  are  considering  is  one  of  pur- 
pose, not  of  ability,  and  I  insist  upon  it. 

There  is  indeed  a  secondary,  a  subordinate  sense,  in  which 
it  is  necessary  Christ  should  appear  in  glory  before  the 
Spirit  performs  His  great  work  of  renewing  the  Nations 
— a  necessity  arising  from  what  is  essential  to  the  fulfill- 
ment of  prophecy — from  what  is  essential  to  the  realization 
of  declared  purposes.  Thus,  for  instance,  it  was  necessary 
that  Christ  should  be  born  in  Bethlehem  and  that  He  should 
be  sacrificed  in  Jerusalem.  Not  necessary  in  the  nature  of 
things — another  town  than  Bethlehem,  another  city  than 
Jerusalem,  might  have  been  chosen.  Not  necessary  as  a 
matter  of  ability  that  He  should  have  been  born  at  all,  or 
that  He  should  have  been  sacrificed  at  all.  He  could  have 
destroyed  His  murderers.  But  necessary  in  order  to  the 
fulfillment  of  prophecies  concerning  Him,  necessary  to  the 
carrying  out  of  the  declared  purposes  of  Jehovah.  This 
use  of  the  term  is  often  confounded  witli  the  former,  and 
hence,*!  suspect,  the  objection.  In  this  secondary  sense, 
and  in  this  only,  is  it  affirmed  by  any  that  it  is  necessary 
Christ  should  come  before  the  general  renewal  of  the 
world  by  the  Spirit. 

A  second  foundation  on  which  it  has  been  alleged  that 
our  doctrine  is  inconsistent  with  the  dignity  of  the  Spirit, 
is  that  it  implies  subordination  in  working  on  His  part.  I 
answer,  it  implies  precisely  the  same  subordination  that  is 
implied  in  the  present  dispensation — the  same,  neither 
more  nor  less.  It  is  the  Catholic  doctrine  that,  among  the 
co-eternal,  co-almighty,  co-equal  persons  of  the  adorable 
Trinity  there  is  not  inequality — that  is  heresy  —not  inequal- 
ity, but  subordination.  The  Father  is  of  none — neither 
begotten  nor  proceed  ing;  the  Son  is  of  the  Father,  begotten; 
the  Spirit  is  of  the  Father  and  the  Son,  proceeding.  And 
30 


466  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

so,  in  the  economy  of  grace,  there  is  like  subordination. 
The  Father  sends  the  Son  to  redeem ;  the  Father  and  the 
Son  send  the  Spirit  to  renew.  The  Spirit  is  styled  the 
Spirit  of  Christ.  He  is  given  in  answer  to  the  intercession 
of  Christ;  He  is  poured  forth  by  the  power  of  Christ;  He 
acts  as  the  agent  of  Christ;  He  takes  of  the  things  of 
Christ — either  the  personally  absent  or  the  present  Christ 
— and  shows  them  unto  us.  Thus  hath  it  been  from  the 
beginning;  thus  is  it  now;  thus  shall  it  be  when  Christ 
shall  come  again  in  glory. 

The  doctrine  of  the  Pre- Millennial  Advent  is  naught 
opposed  to,  but  is  in  all  points  at  one  with,  the  Christian 
faith  concerning  the  office  of  the  Spirit. 

Cognate  with  the  general  objection  we  have  been  con- 
sidering is  another,  viz.,  that  our  doctrine  is  inconsistent 
with  the  doctrine  that  the  Spirit  is  to  convert  the  world 
simply  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel  by  a  militant  Church.  We  admit  the  inconsistency, 
nay,  we  proclaim  it  —  affirming  that  the  doctrine  with 
which  ours  is  inconsistent  is  neither  Scriptural  nor  Cath- 
olic. It  is,  I  admit,  the  now  prevalent  doctrine  of  the 
Protestant  Church;  that  it  is  neither  Catholic  nor  Scrip- 
tural has  been  abundantly  demonstrated  on  this  platform. 
It  forms  no  part  of  the  work  assigned  me  to  controvert  it. 
It  is  in  place,  however,  for  me  to  endeavor  to  disintegrate 
from  it,  and  thus  bring  more  clearly  to  light,  the  true 
Scriptural  doctrine  that  lies  at  its  foundation  —  a  doctrine 
held  by  the  primitive  Church;  a  doctrine  that  everywhere, 
in  all  ages,  has  had  its  adherents.  Every  prevalent  error, 
I  may  remind  you  in  passing,  has  its  basis  in  truth.  It  is 
a  truth  that  the  Church  was  commanded  to  go  forth  and 
preach  the  Gospel  among  all  nations  —  it  is  a  truth  that 
during  the  absence  of  her  head,  by  such  labor  under  the 
influences  of  the  Spirit,  she  propagates  herself,  gathering 


ITS  RELATIONS  TO  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE.        467 

from  among  all  nations  the  pleroma,  the  elect  number  of 
the  Gentiles  —  the  bride  preparing  for  the  bridegroom. 
Now,  it  is  manifest  that  this  gathering  is  in  order  to  the 
Coming  of  the  Redeemer  —  which  Coming  is  in  order  to 
the  infringing  of  the  Millennium.  We  therefore  say,  and 
the  Church  has  ever  said,  that  in  laboring  to  spread  the 
Gospel  we  are  laboring  to  bring  in  the  latter  day  of  prom- 
ised glory.  And  here  is  the  confusion.  On  our  platform  we 
are  striving  in  order  to  that  end,  but  not  directly  thereto. 
The  distinction  I  contemplate  between  striving  in  order  to 
an  end,  and  striving  directly  thereto^  may  be  made  clear  by 
a  simple  illustration:  In  the  dominion  of  some  earthly 
king  there  stands  a  granite  mountain,  that  retards  the 
march  of  improvement.  Broken  into  fragments,  it  would 
not  only  cease  to  retard  progress,  but  its  particles  disinte- 
grated would  themselves  become  the  instruments  of  blessing. 
The  monarch  commands  his  servants  to  labor  to  break  in 
pieces  that  mountain.  In  obedience  to  his  commands  they 
go  forth  with  pick  and  shovel  and  barrow  to  attack  that 
which  resists  and  to  utilize  that  which  they  gather.  They 
labor  in  every  part,  and  from  every  part  they  gather  with  toil 
that  which  is  useful.  Now,  there  are  two  objects  of  labor 
conceivable  —  the  one  is  that  laboring  in  every  part  they, 
shall  dig  down  the  mountain  —  this  is  labor  directly  to  the 
end;  the  other  object  is  that  laboring  in  every  part  and 
gathering  that  which  is  useful,  as  do  the  others,  they  may 
prepare  shafts  and  chambers  in  which  some  skillful  engin- 
eer shall  pour  his  dynamite,  and  in  a  moment,  when  the 
right  time  comes,  blast  that  which  hindereth  unto  useful- 
ness— this  is  labor  in  order  to  the  end.  Now,  our  belief  is 
that  the  latter  is  the  form  of  labor  assigned  to  the  Church, 
which  in  these  modern  days  has  been  by  multitudes  inter- 
preted  as  the  former.  Our  belief  is  that  when  the  Church 
lias  accomplished  her  appointed  work  —  when  the  right 


468  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

time  shall  arrive — the  Master  shall  come  with  the  mighty 
outpourings  of  his  spirit;  and  that  the  mountain  of  ignor- 
ance and  sin  shall  flow  down  at  his  presence;  or,  to 
change  the  figure,  when  the  Bride  shall  have  been  gathered 
out  of  every  land,  then  the  Redeemer  shall  come  to  her, 
and  she  shall  arise  and  shine,  her  light  being  come,  and  the 
Glory  of  the  Lord  being  risen  upon  her,  and  that  then 
nations  shall  come  to  her  light  and  kings  to  the  brightness 
of  her  rising. 

Such,  we  believe,  is  the  doctrine  of  the  "Word  of  God. 
Does  it,  as  is  alleged  by  some,  cut  the  nerve  of  missionary 
effort.  It  was  by  the  hope  begotten  and  fostered  by  this 
doctrine,  that  the  Apostolic  Church  was  energized;  the 
hope  that  they  might  see  the  King  in  His  beauty  ere  their 
eyes  closed  in  death  —  that  their  tongues  might  swell  the 
glad  hosannahs  that  should  welcome  His  approach  —  that 
they,  by  labor  wrought  by  their  redeemed  hands,  might 
hasten  even  unto  their  own  day  the  coining  of  the  time 
when.  He,  the  Redeemer,  might  see  in  fullness,  the  fruit  of 
the  travail  of  His  sou),  and  be  satisfied.  This  was  the 
hope  that  filled  the  Martyr  Church  with  more  than  Roman 
courage  and  Roman  enthusiasm;  that  enabled  them  to  pen- 
etrate into  lands  where  Roman  eagles  never  flew  and  Caesars 
never  won  a  triumph,  there  to  struggle  to  the  death  with 
the  powers  of  darkness,  leading  captivity  captive,  gath- 
ering to  themselves,  and  into  one,  the  scattered  members 
of  the  Bride  of  Christ.  This  is  the  hope  that  ener- 
gizes the  great  Missionary  Church  of  modern  times  —  the 
Moravian — that  for  more  than  a  century  has  poured  itself 
out  on  the  Altar  of  the  Lord,  living  only  for  this  end  —  to 
preach  the  gospel  to  the  heathen.  This  was  the  hope  that 
inspired  Heber,  the  great  missionary  bishop  of  the  English 
Church,  who  gave  us  that  glorious  missionary  hymn, 
"From  Greenland's  Icy  Mountains,"  and  who  spent  his 


JTS  RELATIONS  TO  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE.        469 

strength  and  rested  from  his  labors  on  "India's  coral 
strand. "  This  was  the  hope  that  energized  Gutzlaff,  the 
opener  of  China,  and  Bettleheim,  the  opener  of  Japan. 
Tliis  was  the  hope  that  inspired  and  cheered  and  overjoyed 
McCheyne  and  our  own  noble  Poor,  and  Lowrie,  and  Ran- 
kin,  and  Lowenthal,  and  hosts  of  others  whom  time  would 
fail  me  to  mention. 

Oh!  glorious  doctrine;  Oh!  glorious  hope  sprung  from 
its  bosom !  Wonder  you  if  those  into  whose  hearts  it  has 
entered  have  been  the  pioneers,  the  foremost  laborers  in 
missionary  effort? 

I  charge  not  those  who  disagree  with  me  with  being  the 
slothful  servants  who  say  Our  Lord  delayeth  His  Coming. 
That  would  be  slander.  Well  do  I  know  that  amongst 
them  are  found  many  noble  workers  in  the  cause  of  human- 
ity— in  the  Master's  cause.  But  of  this  I  am  assured  that 
that  faithful  servant  in  whose  ears  is  ever  sounding  the 
midnight  warning  —  Behold,  I  come  quickly,  can  not  in 
labor  be  behind  his  brethren.  With  heart  and  with  voice 
and  with  work  that  hastes  the  Coming,  he  must  ever  answer 
back  the  cry  of  him  who  once  leaned  on  Jesus'  breast,  and 
longed  for  His  reappearing;  "  Even  so,  Come,  Lord  Jesus  — 
Come  quickly." 


470  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


THE  THREE  DAYS'  FEAST  WITH  DAYID'S 
SON. 

BY  DR.  W.  P.  MACKAY. 

NOTHING  could  more  appropriately  finish  our  Conference 
than  a  meditation  upon  David,  and  his  companions,  when  as 
yet  David  was  a  fugitive  and  had  not  readied  the  throne, 
though  he  had  been  anointed  as  king.  You  will  find  this 
recorded  in  1  Chron.  12.  Here  we  find,  firstly,  the  feast; 
secondly,  the  warriors;  and  thirdly,  their  purpose.  THE 
FEAST.  (1  Chron.  12:39.)  "And  there  they  were  with 
David  three  days  eating  and  drinking:  for  their  brethren 
had  prepared  for  them."  Have  our  brethren  in  New  York, 
as  they  have  summoned  us  from  North,  South,  East  and 
West,  not  prepared  for  us  such  a  feast  of  spiritual  food, 
such  draughts  of  living  water  as  have  filled  our  whole 
being,  head,  heart  and  conscience? 

And  has  it  not  been  above  all  with  our  David?  David's 
son  and  David's  Lord.  Has  this  not  been  the  name  that 
has  been  above  every  name?  Who  are  Presbyterians  I  can 
not  tell,  and  who  are  Episcopalians,  or  Baptists,  or  Congre- 
gationalists,  I  know  not.  But  I  know  that  every  speaker's 
deepest  thought  was,  li  let  us  exalt  His  name  together." 
And  is  it  not  because  of  His  presence  that  we  have  found  our- 
selves so  near  to  each  other?  Love  comes  not  by  effort.  I 
do  not  try  to  work  up  affection  for  you,  sir,  the  Chairman 
of  this  Conference,  nor  for  my  friends  Tyng  and  Brookes, 
and  others,  but  just  as  each  approaches  Christ,  so  each 
approaches  the  otner  who  is  near  to  Christ.  The  easiest 
and  surest  way  to  make  a  number  of  lights  approximate, 
each  to  each,  all  placed  in  the  circumference  of  a  circle,  is 


THE  THREE  DAYS1  FEAST.  471 

to  draw  them,  not  nearer  to  each  other,  but  nearer  to  the 
centre,  and  thus  as  we  are  drawn  closer  to  Christ,  our  great 
centre,  we  shall  find  ourselves  shoulder  to  shoulder  with 
all  those  who  are  drawn  nearer  to  Him.  Have  we  not  been 
feasting  on  His  precious  truth  as  on  the  very  bread  of 
life?  Have  we  not  been  drinking  with  Him  out  of  the 
river  of  His  good  pleasure?  Were  it  merely  a  doctrine  or  a 
discussion,  or  a  set  of  theories,  or  crotchets  or  ideas,  or  sen- 
timentalities, it  would  not  be  worth  coming  a  yard  to  meet 
each  other.  But  we  have  met  to  eat  of  food  the  world 
knows  not  of,  to  partake  of  joys  beyond  the  reach  of  earth, 
and  to  cultivate  intimacy  with  Him  who  alone  is  our 
rallying  centre  and  theme  of  attraction. 

2.  Let  us  now  look  shortly  at  the  characters  of  those  war- 
riors who  thus  met  in  David's  day.  We  find  them  described 
in  this  chapter,  and  that  they  are  as  varied  as  we  are  ourselves. 
They  "came  to  David  to  Ziklag,  while  he  yet  kept  himself 
close,  because  of  Saul,  the  son  of  Kish:  and  they  were 
among  the  mighty  men,  helpers  of  the  wars."  Our  King 
is  on  high,  on  His  Father's  throne,  waiting  till  His  enemies 
are  made  His  footstool,  when  He  shall  take  His  own 
throne.  He  has  gone  to  the  Father,  and  thus  the  world  is 
shown  that  the  Father  is  righteous  in  giving  a  righteous 
throne  to  the  Righteous  One  when  they  have  cast  Him  out, 
and  so  to  him  that  overcometh  He  will  give  to  sit  on  His  own 
throne,  even  as  He  overcame,  and  is  set  down  now  on  His 
Father's  throne.  We  rejoice  to  suffer  shame  and  rejection 
for  His  name.  Better  it  is  to  be  alone  with  David  in  the 
cave,  with  the  frugal  fare  and  handful  of  water,  than  with 
Saul  in  the  sumptuous  palace  and  feasting  at  a  royal  board. 

"They  were  armed  with  bows,  and  could  use  both  right 
hand  and  the  left  in  hurling  stones  and  shooting  arrows  out 
of  a  bow."  We  require  to  have  both  our  feet  planted  firmly 
for  the  battle.  And  I  know  that  as  long  as  I  saw  merely 


472  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

the  truth  concerning  the  Cross  I  felt  like  a  man  fighting  on 
one  foot,  but  when  the  glory  of  the  Crown  appeared  I 
felt  sure-footed.  We  require  also  those  who  are  ambi- 
dexter, who  can  fight  on  the  right  hand  with  Infidelity,  and 
on  the  left  hand  with  Superstition ;  some  who  can  hurl  the 
heavy  and  effectual,  if  rather  clumsy-looking  stone,  and 
others  who  can  shoot  the  sharp,  swift  and  sure  arrow  in 
the  interests  of  David.  We  find  that  these  were  "even 
of  Saul's  brethren  of  Benjamin."  Were  we  not  once  on 
Saul's  side,  u children  of  wrath,  even  as  others?" 

"And  of  the  Gadites  there  separated  themselves  unto 
David,  into  the  holds  of  the  wilderness,  men  of  might,  and 
men  of  war  fit  for  the  battle,  that  could  handle  shield  and 
buckler,  whose  faces  were  like  the  faces  of  lions,  and  were 
as  swift  as  the  roes  upon  the  mountain."  Here  we  have 
men  consecrated,  skilled,  bold,  and  active.  In  this  war,  all 
must  present  their  bodies  living  sacrifices,  holy  and  accept- 
able to  God,  which  is  our  reasonable  service.  We  must 
have  men  skilled  in  the  use  of  sword  and  shield,  not  merely 
knowing  the  letter  of  the  word  but  rightly  dividing  the 
word  of  truth — able  to  use  it  for  doctrine  or  reproof, 
correction  or  instruction  in  righteousness.  We  require 
that  courage  which  comes  from  above,  the  faces  like  lions, 
conscious  of  the  strength  of  the  fortress  we  are  in.  Not 
BO  much  fighting  for  the  truth  as  letting  the  truth  fight  for 
us — fearing  neither  man,  nor  devil,  but  strong  in  the  strength 
of  the  Lord  and  in  the  power  of  His  might.  Activity  is  to 
be  ours  in  this  evil  day.  All  around  is  active,  and  with  our 
feet  shod  with  the  preparation  of  the  Gospel  of  peace,  it  is  our 
blessed  privilege  to  be  as  the  roes  on  the  mountains,  carrying 
the  proclamation  of  His  grace  and  glory  over  vale  and  hill,  in 
the  energy  of  His  Divine  Spirit,  undaunted  and  unchecked 
even  by  the  overflowing  of  the  bunks  of  the  rivers  that  cross 
our  faith  (1  Chron.  12:15),  standing  together,  as  we  do 


THE  THREE  DAYS'  FEAST. 


this  night,  in  the  company  of  Amasai,  Chief  of  the  Cap- 
tains of  the  Benjamites,  and  saying:  "  Thine  are  we,  David, 
and  on  thy  side,  thou  Son  of  Jesse;  peace,  peace  be  unto 
thee,  and  peace  be  to  thine  helpers,  for  thy  God  helpeth 
thee." 

Besides  these  bold  and  devoted  warriors,  we  find  mention 
made  of  others  in  verse  32:  "And  of  the  children  of- 
Issachar,  which  were  men  that  had  understanding  of  the 
times  to  know  what  Israel  ought  to  do."  We  require  an 
intelligence  department  in  our  campaign.  In  our  feasting 
these  three  days,  we  have  been  studying  in  the  intelligence 
department.  We  require  more  of  the  men  of  Issacharr 
who  have  understanding  of  the  times,  to  know  what  Israel 
ought  to  do.  This  conference  is  drawing  to  a  close.  The 
speeches  have  been  spoken  and  heard.  But  the  work  has 
now  to  be  done.  Our  intelligence  is  not  to  be  kept  locked 
up  in  a  fire-proof  safe,  but  is  to  be  used  in  our  doing. 
What  the  conference  has  taught  is  now  to  be  done  in 
Europe,  in  the  United  States,  throughout  the  world.  The 
work  is  to  be  done  in  faithfulness  to  our  Master,  with 
intelligence  of  His  mind.  The  work  is  to  be  done  in 
increased  prayers  for  missions,  in  increased  givings  of 
money  to  missions,  in  an  increase  of  men  for  the  mission 
field.  Down  at  our  lonely  standpoints,  deep  in  the  shade  it 
may  be,  the  work  is  now  to  be  done.  But  it  is  by  being 
in  the  current  of  God's  thoughts  we  can  have  intelli- 
gence and  comfort  in  this  work.  I  am  sometimes  asked  : 
"  Are  you  thus  at  all  times  just  thinking  that  the  Lord  may 
return  at  any  minute?"  And  many  such  conscientious 
questioners  think  that  all  we  are  talking  about  is  merely  to 
get  people  into  a  sort  of  star-gazing,  and  ecstatic  frame  of 
mind,  suited  for  dreamers  and  theorizers.  We  study  these 
questions  to  know  what  we  ought  to  do.  We  wish  not  to  be 
dreamers,  but  doers,  and  also  intelligent  doers  —  true  sons- 


474  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

of  Issachar.  First,  we  wish  to  know  what  the  Church  of 
God  should  do.  And  we  find  that  a  serious  mistake  has 
been  committed  for  want  of  this  intelligence.  Instead 
of  gathering  out  a  people  for  the  Lord,  the  Church  has 
been  trying  to  gather  all  the  people.  Instead  of  going  with 
the  drag-net  through  all  the  sea,  the  Church  has  been 
attempting,  as  I  said  before,  to  catch  all  the  fish  in  a  few 
favorite  pools.  Instead  of  sowing  the  seed  the  wide  world 
over,  men  have  been  high  farming  little  corners  and  leaving 
the  greatest  part  of  the  land  untouched.  We  have  30,000 
ministers  in  England,  and  the  bulk  of  heathenism  none. 
Thirty  thousand  men  gathered  on  my  finger,  and  none  to 
the  rest  of  the  body.  The  failure  to  evangelize  the  world  lies 
at  the  door  of  those  who  have  been  aiming  at  converting 
patch  after  patch.  The  Saviour's  command,  "  Preach 
the  Gospel  to  every  creature,"  can  only  be  done  as  we  enter 
into  His  intelligence  concerning  the  present  age,  namely, 
that  we  are  to  be  witnesses  to  Him  to  the  uttermost  ends 
of  the  earth. 

Then,  as  to  the  government  of  this  world  we  are  to  have 
intelligence.  Jew  and  Gentile  have  united  in  refusing  the 
Sufferer  King.  Man  has  thus  been  left  to  himself — the  Gen- 
tile to  Caesar,  and  the  Jew  to  Barrabbas.  He  has  tried  every 
form  of  government  and  failed,  from  the  Csesarism  of  des- 
potic government  to  the  wildest  Communism.  But  the 
intelligent  sons  of  Issachar  are  calm  through  all,  and  wait 
for  a  King  to  reign  in  righteousness — a  King  who  can 
justly  say:  I  know  the  best  thing  to  do  in  judgment,  and  I 
can  do  what  I  know;  in  other  words,  who  has  perfect  wis- 
dom and  perfect  power.  Christ  the  wisdom  and  the  power 
of  God.  This  is  our  God;  we  have  waited  for  Him. 

Before,  through  God's  grace,  I  saw  these  blessed  truths, 
my  reading  •  of  Scripture  was  "considerably  mixed  up." 
Awkward  texts,  ever  and  anon,  would  come  up,  for  which 


THE  THREE  DAYS'  FEAST.  475 

I  could  make  no  place.  My  hearers,  I  advise  you,  have  no 
theology,  past,  or  present,  or  future,  that  has  not  room  for 
all  God's  texts. 

When  I  bought  a  dissected  map  of  the  world  for  my  boys, 
it  took  them  considerable  time  to  put  it  together,  and  one 
or  two  attempts  were  failures.  One  day  Fred  -got  it 
nearly  square,  but  with  rather  suspicious  intervals,  and  he 
said,  ("  Will  this  do?"  "  Not  quite,  my  boy,"  I  said,  as  I 
saw  he  had  something  like  this  put  up — a  bit  of  America 
stuck  North  of  Hindoostan,  Australia  doing  its  best  to  find 
a  home  on  the  Atlantic,  and  Lake  Superior  adding  to  the 
volume  of  the  Pacific!  I  looked  around  and  found  the 
cause  of  all  the  confusion  in  a  country  that  had  fallen 
underneath  the  table.  "  Look  here,  Fred,  where  is  the  place 
for  this?"  Fred  did  not  like  that  country,  he  could  have 
joyfully  borne  its  loss  or  seen  it  burned,  but  that  would  not 
do,  so  we  had  to  take  down  all  his  upmaking  and  find  room 
for  the  left  out  country,  and  then  the  map  was  correct.  Thus 
it  is  with  much  of  our  ordinary  eschatology.  Text  after 
text  is  found  for  which  there  is  no  place.  Entire  dispensa- 
tions are  lost  sight  of.  Jewish  truth  gets  hopelessly  mixed 
up  with  Gentile  truth,  and  the  Church's  hope  gets  sadly 
crushed  out  by  both.  Friend,  look  over  your  theological 
map  and  try  to  make  room  for  all  God's  texts.  Whether 
they  were  soldiers,  sentinels  or  scholars,  we  find,  in  verse 
38,  what  was  characteristic  of  them  all.  k'  They  could  keep 
rank,  and  came  with  a  perfect  heart  to  Hebron  to  make 
David  King."  The  unfaithful  servant  who  says,  "  my  Lord 
delayeth  His  coming,"  begins  to  "smite  his  fellow  servant 
and  to  eat  and  drink  with  the  drunken."  He  keeps  company 
with  those  he  ought  to  shun,  and  quarrels  with  those  he 
ought  to  love.  David's  loyal  ones  are  men  that  keep  rank, 
men  who  march  in  line,  because  they  take  step  from  their 
Captain,  and  their  hearts  are  set  upon  obeying  Him  only. 


476  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

They  had  not  two  objects  before  them.     They  were  not  of 
double  heart.     David  only  fitted  their  thoughts. 

3.  What  was  the  one  purpose  that  filled  the  hearts  of 
those  warriors  during  that  three  days'  feast?  "  To  make 
David  King  over  all  Israel."  What  has  been  our  purpose 
in  gathering  from  all  quarters  to  these  three  days'  confer- 
ence? To  assert  the  crown  rights  of  David's  Son — to  put  in 
our  protest  against  the  reign  of  the  prince  of  this  world  and 
to  stimulate  loyalty  to  our  rejected  Lord.  We  meet  to  exalt 
the  person  of  Christ,  to  proclaim  a  personal  Christ,  to  wait 
for  a  personal  Christ.  Men  talk  about  dying  and  going  to 
heaven.  There  is  no  such  hope  before  the  Christian.  This 
"  going  to  heaven  "  is  a  mere  sentimental  phrase  invented 
by  man's  mind.  "  To  be  with  Christ  "  is  too  personal,  too 
Scriptural,  and  has  too  much  of  God  in  it,  to  be  popular 
with  world  Christianity.  So  the  "  going  to  heaven  "  phrase- 
ology has  taken  its  place  as  being  sufficient  to  look  holy  in 
talk,  but  not  too  far  to  commit  one  to  a  Person.  How  dif- 
ferent is  Scripture.  It  knows  of  no  heaven  but u  with  Christ." 
The  saved  thief  knew  of  no  Paradise,  but  a  to-day  thon 
shalt  be  with  Me."  We  are  to  be  '"absent  from  the  body 
and  present  with  the  Lord  "  if  we  die,  and  Paul  had  a  desire 
to  k<  depart  and  be  with  Christ,  which  was  far  better." 
The  Lamb  is  all  the  glory 
Of  Immanuel's  land. 

We  shall  never  rest  till  our  David  is  King  over  His  own 
possessions,  over  His  own  nations,  King  over  all  nations. 
King  of  Kings,  King  in  Zion,  King  of  glory.  The  true 
Melchizedeck,  the  Priest  on  the  Throne,  with  heaven  and 
earth  under  one  reign  of  righteousness. 

Meantime,  we  are  content  to  suffer  with  Him,  and  we 
work,  not  for  success,  but  are  determined  to  be  faithful. 
I  repeat  it.  He  does  not  say :  Well  done,  good  and  success- 
ful, but  faithful  servant.  In  a  heavy  storm,  the  captain 


THE  THREE  DAYS'  FEAST.  477 

of  a  vessel,  if  he  wishes  some  important  rope  to  be  watched 
and  tightened  or  slackened  at  the  word  of  command,  does 
not  employ  some  boy,  lately  shipped,  but  the  veteran,  trust- 
worthy, tar,  who  answers  to  all  commands  with  the  ready 
"  Aye,  aye,  sir."     "Jack,"  says  he,  "  let  go,  or  hold  on  just 
as  I  tell  you."  "  Aye,  aye,  sir."     A  mate  comes  along  the 
deck,  and  says  to  Jack:     "Why  do  you  hold  on  there?" 
"Because  I'm  told,"  is  all  his  answer.     "But  you  don't 
see  results;  you  don't  see  where  that  rope  goes  over  there 
to  that  you  hold  on  by."     "No;  but  I  know  obedience. 
The  captain  will  run  the  ship.    I  have  only  to  do  what  I'm 
told.     Clear  out,  and  let   me   mind   my   work."     Fellow 
Watcher!     "Hold  fast  that  which  thou  hast;    let  no  man 
take  thy  crown."     The    Son   of  David    shall  yet    sit    on 
David's  throne.     God,  in  Matthew,  chapter  1st,  has  proved 
it  genealogically,  and  He  will  fulfill  it  genealogically,  and 
not  allegorically.     The  Son  of  God  is  yet  to  sit  enthroned 
with  His  royal  bride.     The  Son  of  Man  is  yet  to  sit  on  the 
throne  of  this  world  with  all  nations  blessed  in  Him  and 
calling  Him   blessed.     The  Usurper  is  to  be  cast  into  the 
bottomless  pit,  and  then  the  Prince  of  Peace  will  reign. 
Now,  we   find  God  disowned,  the  Spirit   despised,  Christ 
rejected,    the    Church    broken    up  and  corrupted   by   the 
cravers  of  worldliness,  infidelity,  and  hypocrisy,  the  Jew  in 
darkest   unbelief,    the    nations    in    heathen    darkness,   the 
creature  groaning  under  the  curse,  the  devil  in  gloating 
power,    the  flesh   in    unhindered    activity,    the   world    in 
direct   and  active  opposition  to  the  Father,  man  amelio- 
rating his  condition  and  making  himself  more  comfort- 
able, but  getting  further  from  God,  Babylon,  the  apostasy, 
advancing,  and  infidelity  with  brazen  face.     And  why  we 
meet  thus  to  confer,  and  to  feast,  and  to  cheer  each  other,  is 
not  to  advance  "  views,"  nor  add  to  "  sentiments,"  but  for  the 
glory  of  our  God,  to  work  for,  to  hasten  on,  to  wait  for,  the 


478  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

time  when  Great  Babylon  shall  be  judged  and  burned, 
Antichrist  consumed  with  the  gleam  of  Christ's  coming, 
Infidelity  destroyed,  Beast  and  False  Prophet  cast  into  the 
lake  of  fire,  Creation's  curse  removed,  the  Church  of  the 
living  God  presented  spotless  to  the  Father  as  the  married 
wife  of  the  Lamb,  the  Jewish  nation  gathered,  united,  and 
converted,  Satan  bound,  all  the  nations  brought  under  the 
sway  of  righteousness,  God  glorified,  the  Spirit  honored, 
and  the  crown  rights  of  David's  Son  established  in  the 
sight  of  all  the  universe. 

The  day  of  the  Lord  it  cometh, 

It  cometh  like  a  thief  in  the  night, 
It  comes  when  the  world  is  dreaming 

Of  safety  and  peace  and  light; 
It  cometh,  the  day  of  sackcloth, 

With  darkness,  and  storm,  and  fire, 
The  day  of  the  Great  Avenger, 

The  day  of  the  burning  ire. 

The  day  of  the  Lord  it  cometh, 

When  the  virgins  are  all  asleep, 
And  the  drunken  world  is  lying 

In  a  slumber  yet  more  deep ; 
Like  a  sudden  lurch  of  the  vessel, 

By  night  on  the  sunken  rock, 
All  earth  in  a  moment  reeleth, 

And  goeth  down  with  the  shock. 

The  flash  of  the  sword  of  havoc 

Foretelleth  the  day  of  blood, 
Revealing  the  Judge's  progress, 

The  downward  marcti  of  God ; 
The  fire  which  no  mortal  kindles, 

Quick  seizes  the  quaking  earth, 
And  labors  the  groaning  creation 

In  the  pangs  of  its  second  birth. 

Then  the  day  of  the  evil  endeth, 

And  the  righteous  reign  comes  in, 
Like  a  cloud  of  sorrow  evanish, 

'1  he  ages  of  human  sin ; 
The  light  of  the  morning  gleameth 

Adown,  without  cloud  or  gloom, 
In  chains  lies  the  ruler  of  darkness, 

And  the  Prince  of  Light  has  come! 


CRITICAL  APPENDIX.  479 


CRITICAL  APPENDIX. 


The  following  extracts  are  added,  in  confirmation  of  the  doctrine  of 
the  pre-millennial  advent  and  literal  first  resurrection.  They  are  chiefly 
critical  because,  even  conceding  a  high  value  to  antiquity  and  unanimity, 
as  marks  of  truth,  and  a  proper  respect  to  what  is  venerable  and  well- 
approved,  yet  the  truth  of  a  doctrine  depends  neither  on  its  history  nor 
traditions,  nor  on  creeds,  councils,  or  cecumenicity,  as  Romanists  and 
as  some  anti-Chiliasts  seem  to  argue,  but  upon  its  exegetical  foundations 
and  the  analogy  of  faith — a  principle  consecrated  by  Protestantism.  In 
some  cases,  where  no  translations  exist,  I  have  turned  the  original  into 
English  for  the  benefit  of  the  reader,  condensing  the  matter,  here  and 
there,  because  of  its  exuberant  treatment  in  the  text.  The  authori- 
ties cited  need  no  introduction.  Their  fame  is  universal.  If  any 
intelligent  scholarship,  more  competent,  in  learning  or  piety,  to  pro- 
nounce upon  a  theme  so  great,  resides  anywhere  in  Christendom,  I  am 
unconscious  of  its  locality.  Excepting  one  or  two  instances,  flowing  from 
preceding  generations  of  biblical  students,  the  extracts  here  given  are 
only  waves  of  the  vast  incoming  tide  of  evangelical  exegesis  in  the 
present  age.  ".What  efforts,"  says  Charlotte  Elizabeth,  "has  Satan 
made  to  stifle  this  doctrine!  But  the  word  of  God  is  not  .bound ! " 

N.W. 

FROM  THE  BERLERBERG  BIBEL. 

(Tom.  VI.,   pp.   397-399.) 

"The  rest  of  the  dead  lived  not  till  the  1,000  years  were  finished." 
Here,  a  distinction  is  made  in  the  resurrection,  whereby  it  is  to  be 
noted  that  the  l^jjoav  of  the  foregoing  verse  is  to  be  understood  of  a 
particular  resurrection  in  which  all  shall  not  share,  but  wherein  there 
is  a  pre-eminence.  The  opinion,  therefore,  that  all  the  dead  shall  be 
raised  at  one  and  the  same  time,  is  groundless;  for  a  particular  resur- 
rection precedes,  whereunto  none  others  attain  save  those  who  come  with 
Christ  to  reign.  That,  moreover,  a  bodily  resurrection  is  spoken  of,  is 
to  be  recognized  from  the  Antithesis;  for  precisely  as  the  fact  of  resur- 
rection is  interpreted  of  the  one  class,  so  must  it  be  interpreted  of  the 
other.  Some  of  the  dead  will  rise  before  the  1,000  years,  to  reign  with 


480  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

Christ;  the  rest  of  the  dead  rise  not.  The  former,  indeed,  truly  rise 
from  the  dead,  the  rest,  however,  still  remain  unawaked.  Accordingly, 
before  the  general  and  final  resurrection  of  the  dead  ensues,  a  peculiarly 
separate  resurrection  must  first  take  place,  and,  therefore,  the  correct 
understanding  of  the  passage  gives  us  a  resurrection  of  two  different 
kinds,  one  of  which  occurs  before,  the  other  after,  the  1,000  years.  So 
Paul  lays  down  the  order  of  the  resurrection  in  1  Cor.  15:23,  etc.: 
Blessed  and  holy  is  he  who  is  already  truly  and  spiritually  awakened, 
turned  from  a  death  in  sin  to  the  life  that  is  from  God,  by  a  genuine 
conversion,  and  takes  no  part  with  unbelievers,  nor  in  the  worship  of 
the  Beast,  nor  receives  his  mark.  By  so  much  the  more  is  he  sure  to 
come  to  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb — a  feast  to  which,  however, 
no  one  comes  save  him  who  has  also  part  in  the  '  First  Resurrection,'  and 
is  a  member  of  the  Church  of  the  First  Born."  Heb.  12:  23,  whereto 
also,  they  who  remain  over  shall  come  by  means  of  their  transforma- 
tion. 1  Cor.  15:51-52.  They  are  those  who  shall  be  accounted  worthy 
to  obtain  that  world,  and  that  resurrection  which  is  out  from  among  the 
dead  (aus  den  Todtei)  as  the  Saviour  Himself  expresses  it.  Luke  20:35. 
What  need  have  they  to  become  worthy  of  the  general  resurrection  which 
happens  to  all  without  distinction?  From  which  we  see,  again,  that  a 
particular  resurrection  of  pre-eminence,  which  is  called  the  "  Resurrec- 
tion of  the  Just"  Luke  14:14,  is  determined  upon  before  the  other. 
That  is,  the  "  Better  Resurrection."  Heb.  11 :  35.  This  is  that  celebrated 
"Millennium,"  the  object  of  so  much  mockery,  and  yet  which  stands  so 
clearly  expressed  in  the  sacred  text.  The  priestly  function  is  named 
first  to  indicate  that  no  earthly  or  carnal  kingdom  is  spoken  of,  but  one 
that  is  sacerdotal,  heavenly,  and  spiritual.  A  mere  carnal  world-king- 
dom is  justly  rejected. — Augsburg  Confession,  Art.  17.  The  dignity  of 
the  royal  priesthood  shall  now  first  fully  come  in  clearness,  so  that, 
while  a  kingly  it  shall  yet  be  a  priestly,  holy  dignity.  This  follows 
from  chapter  22:3,  and  from  Isa.  61:6-10.  John  has  no  other  style 
than  what  is  found  everywhere  in  the  sacred  Scripture.  The  co-regents 
who  are  described  in  Rev.  20:4,  shall  reign  even  with  Christ,  who  Him- 
self says,  "  My  Kingdom  is  not  of  this  world."  Now,  indeed,  in  the 
present  time,  all  believers  are  spiritual  kings  and  priests,  but  yet  there 
are  degrees  and  special  pre-eminences  of  blessedness  which  we  may 
not  disregard  except  at  the  expense  of  their  loss.  The  1,000  year  num- 
ber is  constantly  repeated  in  clear  words.  To  deviate  from  the  literal, 
here,  is  to  make  war  upon,  and  do  violence  to,  the  Sacred  Text.  That  a 
great  time-period  is  indicated  is  without  doubt.  A  golden,  blessed  time 
is  there  found,  such  as  never  has  been,  when  God  will  do  well  to  those 
who  love  Him,  even  to  the  thousandth  generation.  That,  however, 
this  golden  time  has  not  yet  come,  but,  with  all  its  promises,  is  yet 


CRITICAL  APPENDIX.  481 

future  and  to  be  expected  by  us,  is  clearly  and  incontrovertibly  proved 
from  this,  that  the  Judgment  upon  the  Beast  and  False  Prophet  is  not 
yet  complete,  but  that  they  rather  still  continue  to  rule  over  all. 

FROM  RICHTER'S  ERKLARTE  HAUS  BIBEL. 

(Tom.  vi.,  p.  1134.) 

"  The  doctrine  of  the  1,000  years'  Kingdom,  or  Flower  and  Golden 
Time  of  the  Church  upon  this  present  earth — which  the  prophets  have 
so  amply  pictured — is  thoroughly  in  accordance  with  the  Evangel- 
ical Church  doctrine,  for  in  the  17th  Article  of  the  Augsburg  Confession 
there  is  not  a  syllable  (steht  kein  wort)  about  the  1,000  years,  nor  about 
the  1,000  years'  Kingdom.  The  doctrine  of  the  true  Christian  Church 
of  the  first  three  centuries  is  no  Jewish  one,  for  the  Jews  have  never 
been  Chiliasts,  and  are  not  now.  Moreover,  when  all  the  Kingdoms  of 
this  world  are  become  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  His  Christ,  they  will, 
nevertheless,  not  all  be  absolutely  holy  as  in  the  new  earth  after  the  last 
resurrection.  Also,  when  all  shall  be  one  flock  under  one  Shepherd, 
still  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  shall  be  no  mere  worldly  Kingdom,  and  the 
destruction  of  Anti-Christ  and  his  godless  adherents  is  no  work  of  the 
pretendedly  pious,  but  solely  a  work  of  Christ  Himself.  (2  Thess.  2 :  8. 
Apoc.  19:11-21.)  It  is  just  as  censurable  to  omit  and  abolish  these 
great  prophecies  as  it  is  arbitrarily  to  put  something  else  in  their  place. 
They  ought  to  be  believed  precisely  as  they  are  written  in  Holy  Scrip- 
ture. (Apoc.  22 : 18, 19.)  Calvin  is  zealous  against  the  heretical  teachers, 
(Anabaptists)  who  circle  off  and  restrict  the  duration  of  Christ's  King- 
dom of  glory  to  1,000  years,  and  deny  its  much  greater  and  everlasting 
duration  after  the  1,000  years  are  expired.  He  remarks  that  "  the  1,000 
years  are  not  spoken  of  as  the  eternal  blessedness  of  the  Church,  but  of 
the  various  agitations  alone  which  await  the  militant  church  upon  the 
present  earth."  *  (Inst.  III.  25;  5.)  The  Apostle  distinguishes  various 
classes  of  saints  who  judge  the  world  according  to  divine  right.  (1  Cor. 
6:2.) 

The  Twelve  Apostles  shall  then  find  fulfilled  (Matt.  19 : 28  and  Luke 
22 :  30.)  The  Universal  Judgment  begins  with  the  return  of  Christ,  and 
continues  during  the  1,000  years,  until  the  Lord  proclaims  the  final 
decision.  (Apoc.  20: 11-15.)  There  are,  therefore,  not  two  Universal 
Judgments,  one  before,  and  one  after,  the  1,000  years'  Kingdom,  but  the 
whole  is  one  Universal  Judgment.  So  it  is  with  the  Resurrection. 

*Calvin  was  right  in  the  first  member  of  the  clause  quoted,  and  fairly  met  the  Jew- 
ish Chiliasts,  so-called,  and  the  Anabaptists,  but  wrong  in  making  the  1,000  years 
contemporate  with  the  militant  church,  struggling  against  Anti-Christ,  during  the 
1,260  years.  He  was  still  confused  by  the  blinding  influence  of  the  medieval  or 
Constantinian  date  of  the  millennium;  or  rather,  he  erroneously  makes  the  1,000 
years  cover  the  whole  Christian  dispensation,  as  Augustine  did. 

31 


482  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

There  are  not  two  different  general  resurrections,  but  only  one,  yet 
divided  into  two  parts.  They  who  first  have  been  spiritually  awakened, 
and  made  perfect,  shall  also  be  bodily  awakened  before  the  rest.  (Rom. 
8 : 11 ;  1  Cor.  15 :  23,  24.)  The  early  Christians  bel  ieved  the  First  Resur- 
rection to  be  literal,  and  this  faith  gave  them  courage  for  martyrdom. 
Because  the  martyrs  were  first  to  lose  their  lives  for  Christ,  so  shall  they 
first  attain  to  the  resurrection  of  life.  Besides  the  martyrs,  many  others 
shall  attain  to  the  blessed  and  holy  companionship  of  the  First  Resur- 
rection. (Dan.  12 : 13.)  On  them,  too,  the  second  death,  the  fearful 
contrast  to  the  First  Resurrection,  shall  have  no  power.  They  shall, 
thereby,  at  the  same  time,  rule  as  kings  with  Christ,  according  to  divine 
right.  But  where  do  they  dwell,  and  where  do  they  exercise  their  office  ? 
Not,  indeed,  any  "more  secluded  in  heaven,  and  hid  in  God,  but  openly 
manifested,  because  then,  for  them,  already  heaven  is  upon  earth,  and 
earth  is  heaven.  They  are  like  the  Risen  and  Glorified  Saviour,  with  a 
spiritual  body,  no  more  bound  to  the  limits  of  space.  They  reign  and 
minister  with  Christ,  because  Christ  Himself  shall  then  be  openly  the 
King-Priest  over  the  whole  earth.  (1  Cor.  15:  24;  Ps.  47;  Ps.  72;  Isa. 
65 :  19.)  As  certainly  as  Christ,  the  Risen  One,  was  among  the  not  yet 
risen,  during  forty  days,  so  certainly  shall  the  many  who  are  risen  with 
Him  be,  like  Him,  among  those  who  are  not  raised.  Jerusalem  shall 
again  be  the  central  city  of  the  Kingdom  of  Christ,  during  the  1,000 
>ears,  as  it  is  so  often  promised  in  the  Old  Testament.  The  Apocalypse 
presupposes  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament  concerning  the  glory 
of  Israel  and  Jerusalem  in  the  last  time. 

FROM  STARKE'S  SYNOPSIS.    NEUES  TESTAMENT. 

(Bund  X.,  pp.  179-183.) 

The  1,000  years  of  the  Binding  of  the  Dragon  and  the  reign  of 
Christ  and  His  saints  are  properly  years.  There  is  no  reason  why  we 
should  deviate  from  a  literal  interpretation.  If  we  explain  them  of  the 
Past  we  shall  involve  ourselves  in  inextricable  difficulties.  Still  less 
can  they  be  referred  to  eternity,  because  verses  seven  and  eight  indicate 
their  completion  and  show  what  will  occur  after  the  1,000  years  are 
expired.  On  the  contrary,  there  are  weighty  reasons  for  abiding  by  the 
literal  interpretation ;  (1)  because  it  carries  with  it  nothing  absurd  or 
incorrect;  (2)  because  the  circumstances  demand  it,  inasmuch  as  these 
1,000  years  are  not  merely  mentioned  twice,  in  verses  2  and  5,  but  four 
times  with  the  article  prefixed,  verses  3,  4,  5,  7,  years  to  which  nothing 
must  be  added,  and  from  which  nothing  must  be  subtracted ;  (3)  because 
the  literal  best  agrees  with  the  first  chief  work  of  the  divine  creation 
and  the  course  of  all  times,  for  who  does  not  see  therein  God's  special 
wisdom  in  that  He  might,  by  His  power,  have  created  all  things  in  a 


CRITICAL  APPENDIX.  483 

moment,  yet  took  six  days  in  which  to  do  it,  and  rested  on  the  seventh ; 
and,  as  Peter  says,  "One  day  with  the  Lord  is  as  a  thousand  years." 
Matt.  24:22  certainly  places  before  us  the  (Summer-time)  great  1,000 
years' World-Sabbath.  (Matt.  10:  7;  11: 15;  6:  17;  8:1.  1  John  2:18. 
Roms.  11 :  25.)  The  1,000  years  of  the  Binding  of  Satan,  verses  2  and  7, 
and  the  reign  of  Christ  and  His  saints,  verses  4  and  6,  are  not  to  be  taken 
as  two  distinct  periods,  to  be  distinguished  from  each  other,  but  as  one 
and  the  ^ame  period. 

These  1,000  years  are  not  Past,  but  still  Future.  If  we  date  them  from 
the  Birth  of  Christ,  or  from  the  Resurrection  of  Christ,  or  from 
the  Transition  of  the  Gospel  to  the  Gentiles,  or  from  the  Destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem,  or  from  Constantino,  etc.,  we  are  involved  in 
inextricable  difficulties.  For  (1)  the  order  and  connection  of  the  20th 
with  the  19th  chapter  is  totally  destroyed;  (2)  what  belongs  to  the  7th 
seal,  to  the  7th  trumpet,  and  also  to  the  end,  is  retracted  to  the  beginning; 
(3)  It  can  not  be  said  that  Satan,  during  the  first  ten  centuries  was  so 
bound  as  his  Binding,  Casting  into,  Shutting  up,  in  the  Abyss  is 
described,  since  he  raged  wickedly  enough  through  the  instrumentality 
of  Pagan  Emperors  and  Roman  Popes;  (4)  by  this  interpretation,  the 
Beast  would  be  destroyed,  or  the  martyrs  declared  slain,  before  the 
Beast,  in  as  far  as  it  is  distinguished  from  the  Harlot,  ever  had  an  exist- 
ence; (5)  in  the  1,000  years,  Satan  was  to  be  securely  bound  and  Christ 
to  reign  with  His  saints,  but  Satan,  during  the  fore-mentioned  periods 
effected  one  deception,  persecution,  and  devastation  after  another,  and 
what  could  be  more  agreeable  to  the  Papacy  than  to  have  the  period 
when  it  raged  the  most,  and  shed  so  much  blood,  regarded  as  the 
Blessed  Time  of  the  bound  and  vanquished  Satan!  Neither  do  the  1,000 
years  begin  with  A.  D.  720.  as  some  think  who  imagine  that  the  four 
words,  "  Seized,"  "  Cast,"  "  Shut  up,"  "  Sealed,"  indicate  four  different 
acts  not  performed  contemporaneously,  but  in  four  successive  centuries, 
from  A.  D.  320  to  A.  D.  720,  for  it  is  clear  that  the  saints  did  not  reign 
with  Christ  during  such  a  1,000  years,  but  rather  that  Anti-christ  reigned 
and  grew  the  mightier.  Neither  do  the  1,000  years  begin  with  Luther's 
Reformation,  for  the  Smalcald  and  Thirty  Years'  war  and  the  persecu- 
tion in  which  many  millions  of  evangelical  confessors  in  France,  Eng. 
land,  Spain,  the  Netherlands,  etc.,  were  executed  with  unspeakable 
cruelty,  prove  the  contrary. 

But  the  1,000  years  are  still  Future,  for  in  them  Satan  is  to  be  bound, 
no  longer  to  deceive  the  nations ;  for  no  period  can  be  shown  in  which 
the  Church  was  thus  free  from  the  persecution  and  deception  of  Satan, 
and  enjoyed  such  distinction  as  the  reign  of  the  saints  for  1,000  years 
demands.  The  Fall  of  Babylon  and  Anti-christ  which  immediately 
precedes  this— Rev.  19 :  21 — has  not  yet  occurred.  The  witnesses  of  the 


484  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

truth  are  not  yet  raised  to  the  dignity  of  reigning  with  Christ,  but  are 
still  under  the  yoke.  After  the  1,000  years,  the  Devil  will  be  cast  into  the 
lake  of  fire,  where  the  Beast  and  False  Prophet  already  are.  This  shows* 
clearly,  that  the  Judgment  of  the  Beast,  chapter  19 :  20,  will  then  have 
been  a  long  time  accomplished,  and  that  the  deception  of  the  nations 
which  follows  the  1,00§  years'  binding  of  Satan,  chapter  20:7,  8.  is 
certainly  different  from  the  oppression  of  the  church  under  Anti-christ. 
According  to  the  concurrent  passages  of  Daniel,  chapter  2 :  33,  34,  43, 
44;  chapter  7 : 8,  9,  17,  18,  21,  22,  25-27,  out  of  which  our  vision  is  taken, 
the  period  can  not  be  Past,  but  must  be  still  future.  Therefore  does  it 
stand  firmly  settled  that  this  1,000  years,  still  future,  is  to  be  reckoned 
from,  and  after,  the  Casting  of  the  Beast  into  the  lake  of  fire,  and  from  the 
Binding  and  Casting  of  Satan  into  the  Abyss,  unto  the  expedition  of  Gog 
and  Magog  against  tJie  camp  of  the  saints. 

The  Praeterists  understand  a  spiritual  resurrection  as  here  spoken  of. 
But  opposed  to  this  is  (1)  the  fact  that  the  discourse  here  is  not  of  such 
a  resurrection  as  that  to  which  the  martyrs  attained  before  their  martyr- 
dom in  which  they  were  already  the  children  of  God,  but  of  such  a 
resurrection  as  that  to  which  they  attained  after  their  martyrdom;  other- 
wise we  would  be  obliged  to  say  that  the  spiritually  raised  were  raised 
spiritually  ("  die  geistlich  auferstanden  stunden  geistlich  auf ! ")  t".  e.,  the 
martyrs  who  died  for  Jesus  were  ultimately  converted— an  idea  impos- 
sible! (2)  The  discourse  here  is  not  of  such  a  resurrection  as  is  con- 
stantly occurring  in  conversion,  but  of  that  special  resurrection  which 
begins  with  the  1,000  years ;  (3)  it  would  follow  that  the  "  Rest  of  the 
dead  "  who,  at  the  beginning  of  the  1,000  years,  did  not  live,  became 
converted  and  spiritually  raised  at  the  end  of  the  1,000  years,  when,  in 
fact,  the  wicked,  after  they  have  been  dead  in  sin  1,000  years,  can  not  be 
spiritually  raised  at  the  end  of  that  period. 

The  Allegorists,  or  Spiritualists,  understand  a  figurative  resurrection 
as  here  spoken  of,  and  regard  their  view  as  founded  (1)  in  the  Prophet 
Ezekiel  37 : 1-14,  the  valley-vision  of  dry  bones ;  and  in  the  circumstance 
that  there  as  here,  the  war  with  Gog  and  Magog  comes  after;  (2)  in  the 
example  of  the  Two  Witnesses,  Rev.  11 : 7-11,  who  were  slain,  but  made 
alive  at  the  end  of  the  three  and  one  half  days,  their  death  being  the  hin- 
dering of  their  testimony,  their  resurrection  its  re-utterance ;  (3)  in  the 
counter-proposition,  that  the  witnesses  were  not  slain,  as  to  the  spirit, 
but  pre-eminently  as  to  their  office  and  honors,  their  death  being  a  civil 
death,  and  their  resurrection  a  civil  one,  also;  (4)  in  the  connection  with 
the  preceding,  for  this  resurrection  refers  to  the  antecedent  sad  condition 
of  the  church,  crushed  down  by  the  Beast,  as  if  they  were  dead,  but 
now,  the  Beast  slain,  they  rise  to  life  again.  But  opposed  to  all  this  is 
(1)  the  words  of  verse  5  prove  that,  in  the  whole  of  the  20th  chapter,  the 


CRITICAL  APPENDIX.  485 

discourse  is  of  only  one  class,  viz. :  those  who  are  dead  bodily,  for  John 
does  not  say  other  dead  from  which  we  might  conclude  that  previously 
such  dead  persons  as  indeed  yet  live  on  the  earth  (and  are  only  compared 
to  the  bodily  dead  on  account  of  their  miserable  condition),  will  be 
raised,  but  he  says  the  "  Rest  of  the  dead  "  who  are  of  the  same  class 
with  the  former,  in  the  same  fact  of  their  bodily  death ;  (2)  although  all 
the  elect  and  blessed  in  heaven  will  share  in  the  "  First  Resurrection,' 
yet  not  a  single  passage  can  be  found  in  the  Scriptures  in  which  a  figur- 
ative or  symbolical  resurrection  is  appropriated  to  them. 

The  Literal ists  understand  a  literal  resurrection  as  here  spoken  of. 
This  resurrection  is  shown  (1)  by  the,text,  Rev.  20:  6,  for  although  John 
saw  only  souls,  yet  this  was  for  the  reason  that  the  souls,  which  hitherto 
had  been  in  a  certain  degree  of  heavenly  joy,  now  united  with  their 
bodies,  are,  by  such  union,  to  be  transplanted  into  still  greater  joy  and 
glory.  He  does  not  say  ipvxai  or  avrat  efycav,  the  souls  lived  and 
reigned,  but  he  speaks  of  the  whole  person.  They  became  alive  by  union 
of  the  soul  with  the  body,  and  reigned  with  Christ  1,000  years.  That 
the  s^Tjaav  means  they  came  to  life  is  clearly  seen  from  chapter  2 .-  8, 
13,  14,  John  5 : 25,  Rom.  8 : 13 ;  (2)  by  what  follows  the  text,  for,  it  is  not 
said, verse  6,  "Blessed  and  holy  is  the  soul  that  has  part  in  the  First 
Resurrection,"  but  speaks  of  the  wliole  person,  consisting  of  soul  and 
body,  which  has  part  therein.  A.nd  if  the  First  Resurrection  and  Reign- 
ing  with  Christ  were  to  be  understood  of  the  soul  alone,  then  John  must 
have  said,  verse  5,  "  The  Rest  of  the  souls  lived  not  again."  As,  more- 
over, he  here  speaks  of  the  whole  person,  in  like  manner  the  Rest  of  the 
dead  lived  not  again  until  the  1,000  years  were  expired.  Therefore,  we 
must  explain  the  living  and  reigning  with  Christ,  verse  4,  of  the  whole 
person  (3),  by  other  passages  of  Scripture,  for  in  Luke  14: 14,  Christ 
does  not  say :  "  It  shall  be  recompensed  in  the  resurrection  of  the  dead, 
but  in  the  resurrection  of  the  just."  In  John  5 : 24,  Jesus  speaks  of  the 
spiritual  resurrection,  or  regeneration,  and  in  verse  25  of  the  bodily,  and 
especially  of  the  First  Resurrection ;  for  He  does  not  here  employ  the 
word  "  all  "  as  in  verse  28,  neither  does  He  merely  say,  "  They  shall  be 
raised,"  but  only  that,  "They  who  hear  the  voice  of  Son  of  God  shall 
live,"  because,  at  that  time,  not  all  shall  hear  that  voice  and  be  raised  to 
life  in  a  general  resurrection,  but  the  mass  shall  be  raised  to  condemna- 
tion. The  words,  "  The  hour  is  coming  and  now  is,"  are  not  to  be  under- 
stood alone  of  the  then  present  time,  but  according  to  John's  style,  1 
John  2: 18,  of  the  whole  New  Testament  period,  John  8: 1.  Then  fol- 
lows, in  verse  27,  the  Judgment,  and  after  the  1,000  years  the  general 
resurrection  of  the  dead,  verse  28.  In  John  6 :  39-40,  44,  54,  Jesus  prom- 
ises to  raise  believers  at  the  last  day.  Inasmuch  as  this  is  a  special  grace 
to  the  elect,  He  can  not  mean  the  general  resurrection,  because  the  lost 


486  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

participate  in  this ;  and  although  He  mentions  the  Day  of  Judgment,  or 
Last  Day,  yet  He  has  in  His  mind  the  last  time  of  this  present  wicked 
world,  Gal.  1 : 4,  upon  which  the  future  glorious  and  righteous  world 
shall  follow,  Luke  20 : 35 ;  2  Pet.  3 : 13.  In  1  Cor.  15  : 23-26,  Paul  marks 
three  orders  in  the  resurrection  of  the  dead ;  firstly,  Christ  the  First 
Fruits;  afterwards  they  that  are  Christ's  at  His  coming;  finally,  the 
End  after  that  Christ  has  surrendered  the  Kingdom  to  the  Father,  when 
the  last  enemy  shall  be  totally  destroyed.  As,  now,  according  to  the  first 
order,  more  than  seventeen  centuries  have  passed  away,  so  also  will  the 
second  order  be  separated  from  the  third  by  the  1,000  years,  1  Cor.  15: 
23;  1  Thess.  4:  16.  The  dead  in  Christ  will  be  raised  first.  If,  now,  at 
the  coming  of  Christ  all  the  dead  without  distinction  are  to  be  raised, 
the  Apostle  would  not  speak  only  of  the  dead  in  Christ ;  (4)  by  the 
exposition  of  the  oldest  church  fathers  who  lived  nearest  the  time  of  the 
Apostles,  which  makes  it  a  bodily  resurrection  to  a  Kingdom  of  glory, 
though  not  to  this  present  earthly  life,  viz. :  Papias,  Justin,  Ireneeus, 
Tertullian,  Victorinus,  Lactantius — orthodox  men — who,  according  to 
the  testimony  of  ^Justin,  understood  this  passage,  to  refer  to  a  proper 
bodily  resurrection.  Not  only  Piscator,  Alsted,  Brightman,  Grotius, 
Mede,  etc.,  of  the  Reformed,  among  the  later  teachers,  understand  it 
thus,  but  also  the  justly  esteemed  Dannhauer,  among  the  Lutherans, 
regards  it  as  highly  probable  in  his  Hodosophia,  p.  1,445,  and  Selneccer 
goes  still  further  in  his  comment  on  Daniel  12:2. 

The  objections  urged  to  the  foregoing,  by  Prseterists  and  Allegorists, 
are  (1)  during  the  1,000  years  the  souls  of  the  martyrs  live  and  reign; 
therefore,  this  can  not  occur  first  after  the  resurrection,  because  the 
souls  are  in  heaven;  (2)  if  1,000  years  still  remain,  after  6,000  for  the 
world,  and  a  Judgment  Day  after  that,  then  the  Judgment  is  not  so  near 
as  the  Apostles  testified  it  to  be ;  (3)  if  the  raised  saints  are  taken  to 
heaven,  then  Satan  loosed  and  Gog  and  Magog,  can  not  assault  them; 
(4)  if  there  is  a  special,  and  afterwards  a  general,  resurrection,  then  the 
special  includes  all,  or  only  some,  believers.  If  all,  then  none  will  be 
left  to  be  rewarded  in  the  last  resurrection,  which  is  contrary  to  John  5: 
29,  Daniel  12 :  2,  Matt.  25  : 31,  and  Rev.  20 : 12-15.  1  Cor.  4 : 5,  2  Cor.  5 : 
10,  Rom.  14:11,  12,  where  the  reward  of  works  refers  to  both  the  good 
and  the  bad.  If  some  only,  then  this  is  contrary  to  Luke  14: 14,  where 
all  the  righteous  appear  in  the  resurrection  of  the  just,  and  with  Matt., 
chapter  25,  and  1  Cor.  15:  25,  which  include  all  believers,  ancl with  Rev. 
20:4,  which  speaks  not  only  of  the  martyrs,  but  of  all  who  have  not 
worshipped  the  Beast 

Thus,  the  reader  has  the  various  expositions,  with  the  reasons  pro  and 
con.  He  who  thinks  he  can  compare  the  first  or  second  of  these  three 
views  with  the  text  and  parallel  passages,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  will  have 


CRITICAL  APPENDIX.  487 

Christian  modesty  enough,  at  least,  so  that,  if  any  one  prefers  the  third 
solution,  viz.:  that  of  the  church-fathers,  of  the  bodily  resurrection  of 
the  martyrs  to  the  Kingdom  of  Glory,  lie  will  not  rashly  accuse  him  as 
guilty  of  heresy  in  doctrine! 

FROM  THEURER'S  DAS  REICH  GOTTES. 

(Pp.  36-39.) 

It  is  worthy  of  observation  that  during  the  life  of  Christ,  He,  evermore 
unveiled,  in  words  and  deeds,  the  Spirit  of  glory  and  sanctity  that 
was  in  Him ;  yet,  at  the  same  time,  evermore  became  veiled,  according 
to  His  body,  before  the  world,  through  shame  and  suffering,  until,  at  last, 
as  the  Crucified  One  on  Golgotha,  with  fear  and  trembling  of  soul,  and 
yet  iu  His  highest  spiritual  beauty,  and  at  the  same  time  in  most  terrible 
bodily  humiliation,  His  members  torn  asunder,  He  surrendered  Himself 
to  the  Gentiles,  enrobed  in  darkness.  So,  also,  does  the  Kingdom  of 
God,  as  Christendom  in  its  humiliation,  make  its  course  through  the 
world.  Ever  more,  the  nearer  it  approaches  the  end,  it  reveals  the 
power  of  its  indwelling  spirit  by  testimony  and  energy,  while  at  the 
same  time  weakness  and  death  press  more  and  more  into  outward 
Christendom.  At  last,  especially  in  its  midnight-time,  although  under 
fear  and  trembling,  and  with  the  lights  gone  out,  as  in  Gethsernane  and 
on  Calvary,  still  in  its  greatest  spiritual  beauty,  a  persevering  and  over- 
coming community,  and  yet  in  its  deepest  shame  and  humiliation,  it  is 
betrayed  and  denied  by  its  own  friends,  condemned  by  Caiaphas,  given 
over  by  Pilate,  surrendered  to  the  clamorous  mob,  and  nailed  to  the 
cross  by  the  heathenish  "  Spirit  of  the  Age."  As  Christ,  at  last,  laid 
aside  His  body  in  death,  so  also  shall  the  Kingdom  of  God  lay  aside,  in 
the  last  tribulation,  everything  that  belongs  to  mere  State-Church- 
dom,  Constitution,  Ordinances,  Laws,  and  external  Christianity.  And 
as  Christ,  at  the  death  of  His  body,  went,  in  His  spirit,  to  Paradise,  so 
shall  the  believing  Church,  in  the  destruction  of  all  external  churchli- 
ness,  press  through,  with  the  power  of  the  martyrs,  to  the  church  above. 
And  as  Christ,  in  the  resurrection,  received  again  His  body  in  glorified 
form,  and  appeared  in  that  exalted  condition  on  earth,  so  shall  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven  at  the  Second  Coming  of  its  King,  and  at  the  First 
Resurrection  of  those  who  sleep  in  Him,  and  with  those  who  are 
changed,  and  at  the  destruction  of  Anti-christ  and  Binding  of  Satan, 
receive  an  outward  glorious  form,  and  enter  upon  this  earth  in  an  exalted 
condition.  This  shall  take  place  when  the  dechristianized  World- 
Kingdom,  under  full  development  of  Satanic  energy,  shall  have  won  an 
apparently  complete  victory  over  the  Kingdom  of  Christ.  Then  shall 
the  Kingdom  of  Christ,  as  a  Kingdom  of  Joy,  lift  itself  high  over 
the  ruins  of  Satan's  empire,  and  become  the  one  and  only  World- 


488  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

Kingdom  on  Earth.  Jesus  shall  be  King,  surrounded  by  His  Bride, 
who,  in  a  high-priestly  way,  shall,  with  Him,  rule  the  earth. 
Whether  Christ,  with  His  Church,  during  this  Kingdom  of  Joy, 
shall  remain  constantly  visible,  or  whether,  after  His  visible  appear- 
ing, He  shall  again  become  invisible,  or  sometimes  one  and  then 
the  other,  as  in  the  time  of  His  resurrection,  or  whether  the  central  seat 
of  His  dominion  shall  be  Mount  Zion,  or  whether  this  shall  be  literally 
exalted  above  all  mountains,  or  whether  the  higher  Pavillion-Cloud  in 
the  air  shall,  after  banishment  of  all  wicked  spirits,  be  the  place  where 
Christ  shall  celebrate,  with  His  Church,  the  marriage-supper  of  the 
Lamb,  or  whether  the  upper  Jerusalem  and  Mount  Zion  shall  be  united 
in  closest  connection  for  the  glorified  church — these  are  questions  on 
which  believing  investigators  of  Scripture  have  returned  various  answers. 
It  is  not  always  true  that  what  is  most  conceivable  is  most  probable. 
The  fulfillment  alone  will  bring  us  the  surprising  solution.  Heaven 
will  be  nearer  earth  though  not  yet  united.  It  will  be  the  light-evening, 
the  still  Sabbath  of  the  earth,  not  yet  its  Sunday,  or  still  greater  Easter- 
morn.  The  earth  remains  earth,  though  under  a  higher  power  of  devel- 
opment and  an  altogether  new  blessing  from  above.  The  physical  life 
of  man  advances,  but  under  the  dominion  of  the  Spirit.  Among  the 
nations,  shall  stand  pre-eminent  the  now  scattered,  but  then  gathered, 
people  of  Israel.  For,  from  Zion  and  Jerusalem,  the  clear  gleam  of  God 
shall  break  forth,  and  from  there  shall  proceed  the  law.  At  the  end  of 
the  1,000  years,  the  separation  between  heaven  and  earth  shall  be 
abolished.  Earth  and  Humanity  shall  have  passed  through  the  grave 
to  their  eternal  Easter-morn.  And  then  shall  be  brought  to  glorious 
completion  what  was  begun  in  the  Incarnation  of  Jesus. 

FROM  STOCKMAYER-DAS  OELBLATT. 

(Pp.  161, 162.    Nov.  1878.) 

The  coming  of  the  Lord  brings  the  breaking  of  that  great  Day  of 
which  the  Apostle  speaks.  (2  Pet.  3 :  8.)  "  One  day  is  with  the  Lord  as 
a  thousand  years."  This  day  of  the  Lord  which  follows  upon  the  sixth 
weary  work-day  of  the  world,  commences  with  His  advent  to  set  up  his 
visible  Kingdom  on  earth,  and  closes  with  the  universal  judgment 
and  regenesis  of  heaven  and  earth.  We  have  to  expect  the  Lord,  how- 
ever, not  only  as  King,  for  the  erection  of  His  visible  dominion,  but  also 
as  Bridegroom  for  the  bringing  home  of  His  Bride.  When  Paul  speaks 
of  the  return  of  Christ  he  connects,  therewith,  "our  gathering  together 
unto  Him,"  (2Thes.  2:1,)  which  indeed  precedes  the  erection  of  the 
Kingdom,  for  to  this  last  named  end  the  Lord  appears  attended  by  His 
chosen  saints,  (Kev.  17: 14,19: 14;  1  Thes.  3: 13;  Zech.  14:  5,)  whom  He 


CRITICAL  APPENDIX.  489 

gathers  round  Himself.  Before  John  sees  the  Conqueror  coming  from 
heaven  on  the  white  horse  (Rev.  19:11-16),  he  hears  the  voices  of  a 
great  multitude  from  above,  exclaiming,  "  Let  us  be  glad  and  rejoice 
and  give  honor  to  Him,  for  the  marriage  of  the  Lamb  is  come,  and  His 
wife  hath  made  herself  ready."  (Rev.  19 :  7.)  It  follows,  therefore,  that 
the  Church  of  Christ  has  there  reached  the  point  where  the  most  glorious 
promises  of  God  are  fulfilled.  To  see  Jesus,  to  behold  Him  face  to  face, 
— this  is  the  longing  of  all  believing  souls  who  have  already  learned 
here  below  to  behold  Him  by  faith.  A  day  is  coming  when  this  longing 
shall  be  stilled  in  a  way  surpassing  all  human  thought— the  day  of  the 
marriage-supper  of  the  Lamb,  the  ceremonial  day  of  the  heavenly  Bride- 
groom with  His  chosen  Bride.  They  who  have  stood  nearest  to  Him 
here  below  shall  stand  nearest  to  Him  then,  in  that  day  of 
honor,  clad  in  holy  garments,  more  precious  than  gold,  and 
reflecting  the  splendor  of  His  glorious  majesty.  Blessed  are  all 
they  who  are  called  to  this  marriage-supper.  (Rev.  19 : 9.)  The 
attainment  of  this  end  has,  for  its  pre-supposition,  the  glorification  of 
the  Bride  through  the  resurrection  from  the  dead,  and  the  transforma- 
tion of  the  living  saints.  (1  Thess.  4 :  6 ;  1  Cor.  15 :  23,  52 ;  Phil.  3 :  20.) 
But  the  Lord  comes  not  only  as  a  Bridegroom  but  as  the  King  of  Kings 
to  overthrow  the  whole  anti-christian  power  of  the  world,  to  hurl  the 
princes  of  the  world  into  the  abyss  and  establish  His  visible  Kingdom 
on  earth,  in  which  the  risen  saints  shall  reign  with  Him  1,000  years,  as 
priests  of  God  and  of  Christ.  (Rev.  20 :  6 ;  Dan.  7 :  27.)  The  end  circles 
back  to  the  beginning.  The  dominion  of  God  as  it  was  in  Paradise 
must,  at  last,  attain  to  the  same  eminence  on  earth,  precisely  when  the 
dominion  of  Satan  will  have  reached  its  highest  development.  As 
Paradise  was  the  central  point  from  which  the  dominion  of  God  spread 
first  over  Eden,  next  over  the  whole  earth,  so,  in  the  Millennial  King, 
dom,  the  risen  church,  the  Bride,  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  Bridegroom — 
the  second  Adam — shall  be  the  central  point  from  which  the  life-stream 
of  the  glory  of  Jesus  shall  gush  forth  over  the  beloved  land,  the  King- 
dom restored  to  Israel,  and  next  over  all  surrounding  nations  of  the 
world. 

FROM  PFLEIDERER'S  DER  PAULINISMUS. 

(Pp.  264,  265.) 

Tne  resurrection  of  believers,  and  judgment,  are  acts  immediately 
connected  with  the  Parousia,  but  in  no  way  constitute  the  absolute 
"  end."  With  the  Parousia,  rather,  the  epoch  of  the  Messianic  dominion 
of  Christ  upon  earth,  begins  that  period  whose  duration  is  given  by  John 
as  1,000  years,  and  which  we  designate  by  the  technical  term  "  Chiliasm," 
even  though  it  is  indefinitely  described  by  Paul.  That  Paul,  also,  as 


490  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

well  as  John,  assumes  an  intermediate  period  of  indefinite  duration 
between  the  Parousia  and  the  end  of  the  world,  during  which  Christ 
exercises  the  government  of  the  world  in  visible  Messianic  glory,  and 
afterwards  surrenders  the  Kingdom  to  God,  is  expressly  taught  in  1  Cor. 
15 : 23.  Verse  23  speaks  of  an  "  Order  "  of  the  resurrection,  Christ  the 
First  Fruits  going  before;  next  they  who  are  Christ's  at  His  coming, 
then  the  end  of  the  world-period,  which  coincides  with  the  surrender  of 
the  Kingdom  to  God.  Utterly  destroyed  would  be  this  clear  conception 
of  an  "  Order"  of  events  running  on  in  various  articulations  and  time- 
sections,  did  we  hold  the  expression,  "then  the  end,"  to  be  contempora- 
neous with  the  preceding  "  afterwards"  which  designates  the  Parousia; 
for  then,  indeed,  except  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  only  one  resurrection 
were  to  be  expected,  viz.,  that  of  believers,  in  consequence  of  which  the 
Pauline  discourse  could,  clearly,  not  be  a  succession  of  events,  and  still 
more,  the  destiny  of  the  whole  non-Christian  world  would  be  passed 
over  in  inconceivable  silence.  The  time-point  of  the  "  end"  is  that 
where  Christ  surrenders  the  Kingdom  to  God,  after  He  has  put  down  all 
hostile  power,  for  until  this  He  must  continue  to  reign.  According  to 
the  New  Testament  view  it  is  undeniable  that  the  Parousia  is  the  time- 
point  when  Christ  enters  upon  the  Kingdom.  For  what  should  He 
appear  in  visible  glory  on  earth  if  not  even  for  this,  to  enter  on  His 
imperial  dignity  and  exercise  His  imperial  office  in  the  place  of  God  ? 
A  visible  appearing  upon  earth  to  not  enter,  first  of  all,  visibly  upon 
the  dominion  which  hitherto  He  had  invisibly  exercised  by  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  but  only,  and  immediately  to  visibly  surrender  the 
same,  is  a  contradiction  in  thought.  Therefore,  does  it  incontroverti- 
bly  follow  that  the  "end,"  where  Christ  surrenders  the  outward 
royalty  to  God  must  be  conceived  of  as  essentially  different  from  the 
Parousia  where  He  enters  upon  it,  and  separated  from  it  even  by  the 
whole  period  in  which  He  exercises  it,  i.  e.y  by  the  period  of  the  so-called 
Apocalyptic  1,000  years. 

FROM  EBRARD'S  CHRISTLICHE   DOGMATIK. 

(Zweiter  Bund,  pp,  747,  749,  736  ) 

The  development  of  the  Church  forms  a  conspicuous  parallel  with  the 
history  of  Christ  upon  earth.  Its  persecutions  until  Constantine,  corres- 
pond to  His  persecution  by  Herod;  its  labor  among  the  nations  during 
the  three  and  a-half  mystic  years  to  the  three  and  a-half  years  of  His 
ministry;  its  last  three  and  a-half  days  of  tribulation  at  the  end-time  of 
the  Anti-christian  Kingdom  to  His  passion  and  burial,  the  resurrection 
of  believers  at  His  return  corresponds  to  His  own  resurrection.  And 
just  as  after  His  resurrection  He  remained  forty  days  upon  earth  the 
Glorified  among  the  unglorified,  so  shall  the  Church  triumphant,  con- 


CRITICAL  APPENDIX.  491 

sisting  of  the  resurrected  saints,  united  with  their  Head  rule  over  the 
earth  throughout  the  long  period  designated  by  the  mystic  number  1,000 
years — the  glorified  over  the  unglorified.  And  then  shall  the  Old  Tes- 
tament prophecies  of  the  re-creation  of  the  Kingdom  of  Israel  attain 
their  fulfillment,  for,  within  the  unglorified  humanity  upon  earth,  con- 
verted Israel  shall  form  the  middle  point  of  the  Kingdom  of  Christ. 
The  Church  of  the  resurrection  shall  then  first  rightly  exercise  with 
power  its  office  over  the  nations,  being  fully  developed  into  the  King- 
dom of  Christ,  for  it  still  has  nations  at  its  side.  Only  the  subjects  of 
the  Kingdom  of  Anti-Christ  are  destroyed  at  the  Parousia.  The  remain- 
ing world  of  nations  lives  on  in  an  unglorified  state.  The  first  resurrec- 
tion, that  of  those  who  have  not  received  the  mark  of  the  beast  is  to  be 
distinguished  from  the  later  resurrection  of  the  whole  remaining  human- 
ity at  the  final  judgment.  The  latter  will  be  separated  from  the  Parousia 
by  a  long  period,  during  which  the  risen  ones  caught  up  to  meet  the 
Lord,  shall  live  with  Christ  and  share  in  His  dominion  over  the  earth. 

FROM   SCHENKEL'S  CHRISTLICHE  DOGMATIK. 

(Zweite  Abtheilung.  pp.  1195,  1196.) 

That  the  doctrine  of  the  1,000  years'  Kingdom,  or  Chiliasm,  enclosed 
in  itself  an  important  dogmatical  truth  was  a  fact  that  should  have  been 
recognized  by  the  older  modern  dogmatists.  The  earlv  degeneration  of 
this  truth  into  sensuous  and  carnal  representations  haa  brought,  only  so 
much  the  more,  the  doctrine  into  the  disrepute  of  heresy,  in  the  Hie- 
rarchical Church,  since  the  Chiliasts  (Jewish)  haughtily  appropriated  to 
themselves  the  glory  and  blessedness  of  the  1,000  years'  Kingdom  before 
the  time.  In  the  early  period  of  the  reformation  they,  who,  upon  the 
ground  of  the  Holy  Scripture,  undertook,  partly  by  unfortunate,  partly 
by  criminal,  attempts,  to  transfer  the  symbolic  idea  of  that  kingdom  into 
the  outer  field  of  fact,  hindered  even  the  recognition  of  its  ideal  doctrine 
content.  And  yet  what  a  thought,  rich  in  comfort,  that,  after  the  severe 
and  decisive  conflicts  in  which  the  false  Churchdoin  and  God-opposed 
Statedom  have  been  overcome  by  the  body  of  believers,  and  the  universal 
power  of  wickedness  has  been  broken,  there  shall  finally  follow  a  time 
of  gathering  together  and  of  peace  for  the  Church  of  the  Lord  in  which 
Christ  in  her,  and  she  in  Christ,  shall  both  be  manifested  unhindered  for 
the  first  time!  Only  there  is  no  justification  for  bringing  this  glorious 
manifestation  of  the  victorious  Church  of  peace  into  any  connection 
with  enhanced  sensuous  enjoyments  or  acquired  worldly  honor.  On  the 
contrary,  the  victory  over  evil  shall  have  as  its  consequence  the  trans- 
figuration of  the  physical  basis  in  man  into  the  glory  of  the  Spirit-life, 
aud  with  the  victory  of  the  Spirit-life  upon  earth,  a  metamorphosis  of 
the  life  of  nature  shall  go  hand  in  hand. 


492  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


FROM  VAN  OOSTERZEE'S  CHRISTIAN  DOGMATICS. 

(Vol.  II.    pp.  786,  798,  799.) 

Scripture,  in  the  dim  distance,  opens  up  the  prospect  of  more  than 
one  resurrection;  first,  a  partial  one,  and  then  an  absolute  universal  one. 
Of  the  former,  not  only  does  the  Apocalypse  seem  to  speak,  (20 : 4-6,)  but 
also  the  Lord,  (Luke  14: 14,)  and  Paul,  1  Thess.  4: 16,  as  also  1  Cor.  15: 23, 
as  compared  with  verse  26 ;  without,  however,  its  connection  with,  and 
difference  from,  the  other  resurrection  being  more  nearly  indicated. 
That  the  return  of  the  Lord  will  not  be  simply  a  momentarily  becoming 
visible  from  heaven,  but  a  return  to  earth  is  according  to  the  Scriptures 
beyond  doubt.  Simultaneously  with  the  coming  of  Christ,  takes  place 
the  "  First  Resurrection."  The  term  Millennial  Kingdom  has  in  many 
an  ear  so  unpleasant  a  sound  that  even  from  a  believing  standpoint  some 
courage  is  required  to  range  one's  self  with  the  defenders  of  Chiliasm. 
If  we  do  so,  nevertheless,  in  obedience  to  faith  in  the  word,  without 
which  we  know  nothing  of  the  future,  we  must  begin  with  repudiating 
the  Jewish  form  in  which  this  prospect  is  represented  by  some  in  a 
manner  which  furnished  a  ready  occasion  to  the  reformers  to  speak  of 
"Judaica  somnia"  For  us,  also,  is  the  hope  here  treated  of  •' a  real 
pearl  of  Christian  truth  and  knowledge  "  (Lange),  but  only  so,  after  we 
have  separated  the  pearl  from  the  variegated  shell  in  which  it  is 
so  often  proffered  to  us.  The  fulfillment  of  the  prophetic  word  can 
not  lead  to  its  entire  annulling,  and  when  we  enquire  as  lo  the  indestruct- 
ible reality  which  underlies  alike  the  prospect  of  prophets  and  apostles, 
we  believe  that  this  prospect  authorizes  us  to  hope  for  nothing  less  than 
a  glorious  manifestation  of  the  triumphant  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth, 
even  before  the  entire  running  out  of  the  course  of  the  world's  history. 
Such  a  manifestation  we  may  not  expect  before  the  return  of  the  Lord, 
but  after  this  return  we  regard  it — even  apart  from  the  letter  of  Scrip- 
ture—as on  internal  grounds,  and,  moreover,  as  in  the  highest  degree, 
worthy  of  God. 

FROM  CHRISTLIEB'S   MODERN   DOUBT  AND  CHRISTIAN 

BELIEF. 

(P.  452.1) 

The  resurrection-power  coming  from  Christ,  through  the  medium  of 
His  word  and  sacraments,  tends  mainly  to  the  renewing  and  sanctifica- 
tion  of  the  sinner,  Rom.  5 : 10,  Eph.  2:5,6,  1  Pet.  1:3,  and  thus  inter- 
penetrates, first,  the  spiritual  nature  of  man,  planting  within  those  who 
are  regenerate  a  germ  for  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  Rom.  8:11. 
Then,  the  spiritual  life  of  Christ  breaks  forth  into  a  manifestation  in  the 
visible  world,  by  revivifying  the  bodies  of  those  who  are  sanctified,  in 


CRITICAL  APPENDIX.  493 

the  "  First  Resurrection,"  1  Cor.  15 :  23,  John  5 :  25-29,  Rev.  20 :  5,  6.  In 
the  succeeding  general  resurrection,  an  act  of  Christ's  power  which 
extends  to  the  whole  of  the  corporeal  world,  and  introduces  the  great 
mundane  catastrophe,  Rev.  20: 11-13,  as  well  as  in  the  formation  of  a 
new  heaven  and  earth,  this  grand  and  gradually-progressive  process  of 
the  world's  renewal  has  its  fitting  consummation.  It  is  God's  will  that 
His  glory  should  dwell  in  the  whole  creation,  that  He  may  be  All  in 
All,  1  Cor.  15 : 28,  Rev.  21 : 3,  etc.  In  this  respect  we  must  indorse  the 
sentiment  of  Oetinger,  that  "  Corporeity  is  the  end  of  the  ways  of  God." 

FROM  DORNER'S  PERSON  OF  CHRIST. 

(Vol.  I.,  pp.  408-415.) 

Christian  Chiliasm,  so  far  from  being  derivable  from,  may  in  part  be 
more  justly  regarded  as  a  polemic  against,  Judaism,  on  the  part  of  Chris- 
tianity.  This,  in  particular,  is  its  character,  where  it  has  apparently 
borrowed  most  features  from  Judaism."  "It  is  false  to  say  that  any  one 
of  the  church  writers  conceived  the  1,000  years'  kingdom  to  be  the  last. 
On  the  contrary,  they  represent  it  as  a  stage  of  transition  to  eternal  life. 
For  this  reason,  also,  it  is  unjustifiable  to  say  that  Chiliasm  degrades 
faith  and  sanctity  in  this  life,  to  the  rank  of  mere  means  whose  end  lies 
outside  of  themselves.  They  continue  to  be  ends  themselves,  though  at 
the  same  time  regarded  as  preparing  the  way  for  a  new  and  more  per- 
fect stadium.  The  present  world  is  a  period  of  suffering,  especially  for 
the  members  of  the  1,000  years'  kingdom."  "  Chiliasm,  therefore,  was 
the  form  in  which  Christianity  first  gave  conscious  expression  to  the 
conviction  of  its  destiny  to  rule  the  world.  Chiliasm  was  the  assertion 
of  the  fact,  that  Christianity  is  related,  positively  as  well  as  negatively, 
to  the  world.  Chiliasm  declared  that  Christianity,  by  renouncing,  was 
called  to  glorify  the  world,  Chiliasm  was  the  fruit  and  sign  of  the 
advance  of  Christendom  to  the  conviction  that  Nature  is  destined,  by 
its  inmost  essence  and  idea,  to  stand  in  a  positive  relation  to  spirit. 
The  truth  which  it  asserted  justly  claimed  a  realization  by  Christendom 
at  every  stage  of  its  existence  in  even  higher  forms  and  increasing 
measure." 

FROM  LUTHARDT'S  LEHRE  VON  DER  LETZTEN  DIEGEN. 

(Pp.  35,  129.) 

The  earth,  not  heaven,  is  the  abode  of  the  glorified  church.  There 
shall  not  be  one  part  of  the  church,  the  Gentile-Christian  part,  glorified 
in  heaven,  and  another  part,  the  Jewish,  glorified  on  earth.  The  church 
shall  be  one,  and  have  in  its  midst  the  Lord  returned  to  earth,  as  the 
Sun  and  Temple  in  the  new  heavenly  glorified  Jerusalem.  They  who 
suffer  with  Christ  shall  reign  with  Him.  But  over  whom  ?  The  dis- 


494  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

tinction  still  obtains  between  the  glorified  church  gathered  round  its 
Lord,  in  its  glorified  place  on  earth.,  and  the  outer  unglorified  humanity 
still  liable  to  sin  and  death,  yet  freed  from  Satanic  dominion  and  sub- 
ject to  the  dominion  of  Christ  and  His  Church.  Into  such  a  contrast 
the  Old  Testament  prophecy  runs  out,  the  contrast  between  Israel,  the 
ruling  people  of  God,  and  the  nations  of  the  earth  brought  into  sub- 
mission to  its  divine  government.  The  true  Israel  in  spirit,  gathered 
from  among  all  nations,  is  the  Church  of  Christ.  Before  it,  the  nations 
bow  in  obedient  recognition  of  the  authority  of  Christ,  1,000  years  long. 
One  of  the  great  World-Days,  a  World-Time,  belongs  to  this  Kingdom 
of  God. 

It  is  future,  not  past,  and  not  even  present,  for  it  begins  with  the 
resurrection  of  believers.  This  resurrection,  Rev.  20:  4-6,  is  not  a  spirit- 
ual regeneration,  for  what  is  here  spoken  of  is  not  that  sinners, 
spiritually  dead,  shall  be  spiritually  quickened  to  faith,  but  that  the 
martyrs  and  other  believers,  bodily  dead,  shall  be  bodily  raised  to  the 
life  of  glory  and  dominion.  To  make  a  representation  of  this  condition 
is,  for  us,  as  impossible  as  it  was  for  the  disciples  to  conceive  the  bodily 
resurrection  and  glorification  of  their  Lord,  before  their  actual  experi- 
ence of  these  things.  Enough,  that  it  is  promised  to  us."  "  Is  the  object 
of  Christ's  coming  to  surrender  the  Kingdom  to  the  Father,  or  does  He 
come,  first  of  all,  to  rightly  enter  upon  it?  Undoubtedly  the  latter. 
The  Appearing  of  Christ  is,  at  the  same  time,  the  Appearing  of  His 
Kingdom.  Then  shall  believers  eat  and  drink  in  His  Kingdom,  and, 
since  they  have  borne  with  Him  the  Cross,  shall  share  with  Him  the 
glory.  This,  unquestioned,  then  it  is  clear  that  the  return  of  Christ  is 
rather  for  the  purpose  of  assuming  than  assigning  the  Kingdom,  and, 
therefore,  the  Parousia  of  Christ  and  the  End  of  the  World  do  not  coin- 
cide, but,  on  the  contrary,  are  separated  from  each  other." 

FROM  LANGE'S  BREMEN  LECTURE. 

(Bremen  Lectures,  p.  244.) 

The  order  of  events  in  the  consummation  of  the  Kingdom  of  God, 
Paul  has  critically  indicated.  The  Resurrection  of  Christ  is  the  con- 
summation of  this  kingdom  in  principle,  1  Cor.  15 : 23,  Eph.  1 : 19.  The 
ontological  truth  that  spirit  has  absolute  power  over  nature,  the  personal 
spirit  over  its  corporeal  sphere,  has  there  been  realized  as  a  truth  of 
history.  With  this  fact,  the  Spirit  of  Glory,  as  a  resurrection-germ  in 
believers  corresponds,  Rom.  8: 11,  1  Pet.  4: 14.  This  resurrection-seed 
will  become  the  harvest  in  the  "First  Resurrection,"  1  Cor.  15:23, 
which  belongs  to  the  beginning  of  the  cosmical  consummation.  The 
"  End,"  then,  is  the  conclusion  of  the  One  Day  which  is  as  great  as 
1,000  years.  In  this  altogether  organic  period  of  transition,  from  time 


CRITICAL  APPENDIX.  495 

to  eternity,  Christ  will  destroy  all  powers  of  sin  and  of  the  old  world,  1 
Cor.  15 :  24,  25,  then,  as  the  last  enemy,  Death,  the  essence  of  all  evil. 
Finally,  there  appears  yet  a  wonderful  change  of  things.  The  official 
work  of  Christ  in  redeeming  and  renewing  has  been  accomplished,  and 
His  antecedent  mediatorial  reign  now  passes  over  into  the  consummated 
theocracy,  the  immediate  rule  of  God  in  the  glorified  world  by  virtue  of 
the  omnipresence  of  the  Spirit.  The  Scriptures  speak  in  the  sublimest 
figures  of  the  future  in  which  the  Kingdom,  the  heavenly  Jerusalem, 
shall  descend  to  earth,  and  the  hope  of  residence  in  this  magnificent 
city,  still  more  of  its  appearance,  has  always  most  profoundly  moved, 
waked,  purified,  comforted,  cheered  all  Christian  hearts.  In  a  thou- 
sand songs,  winged  words,  and  similitudes,  it  has  poured  itself  forth. 

FROM  AUBERLEN'S  DER  PROPHET  DANIEL. 

(P.  372.) 

Daniel  and  John  both  describe  the  Millennial  Kingdom,  but  in  dif- 
ferent manner,  because  from  different  points  of  view.  As  we  have 
already  seen,  both  Apocalypses  are  consummations  of  the  entire  proph- 
ecy of  their  Testaments,  containing,  Dan.  2 : 35, 44 ;  7 : 13-27,  a  brief  sum- 
mary of  the  whole  Old  Testament,  and,  Rev.  20 :  4-6  a  brief  summary  of 
all  the  New  Testament  prophecy,  concerning  the  Kingdom  of  Glory 
upon  earth.  A  great  mass  of  prophetic  passages,  and  many  beautiful 
ones  in  the  Gospels  and  Epistles,  serve  to  fill  up,  more  richly,  these  gen- 
eral outlines.  Nor  does  the  New  Testament  lack  in  such  expressions 
as  form  the  connecting  links  between  the  earthly  and  super-earthly 
side  of  the  contemplation.  The  view  of  the  subject,  generally  taken,  is 
that  Jesus  preached  a  purely  internal,  moral,  and  spiritual  Kingdom  of 
God,  in  opposition  to  the  external,  carnal,  Messianic  expectations  of  the 
Jewish  people.  This,  however,  is  only  the  other  and  spiritualistic 
extreme  to  the  materialistic  conception  of  the  Jews  at  the  time  of  our 
Saviour.  It  is  admitted  that  our  Lord  was  obliged  to  press  with  double 
emphasis,  over  against  the  carnal  ideas  of  His  people,  the  spiritual 
internal  conditions  necessary  to  a  participation  in  His  Kingdom,  viz. : 
repentance  and  faith.  But  He,  thereby,  does  not  allow  the  Kingdom  to 
be  dissolved  into  mere  inwardness;  it  is  only  for  Him  "the  divine 
•order  of  things,  which  is  realized  through  Him,  the  Messiah — a  develop- 
ment from  within  outwardly.  (Chr.  F.  Schmid,  Bib.  Theol.  N.  T. 
I.  325.)  Thus,  the  Kingdom  of  God  has  different  periods.  It  has 
appeared  in  Christ,  Matt.  12:28;  it  spreads  in  the  world  by  inward, 
hidden,  spiritual  processes,  Matt.  13 : 33 ;  but,  properly,  as  a  kingdom  in 
royal  glory,  it  comes  only  at  the  Parousia,  Luke  19: 11,  12,  15,  even  as 
the  Lord  Himself  has  taught  us  to  pray,  day  by  day,  "  Thy  kingdom 
come,"  Matt.  6:10.  And  this  kingdom  is  not  that  of  everlasting 


496  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

blessedness  after  the  last  judgment,  which,  indeed,  consummates  the 
ultimate  perfection  of  the  kingdom,  but  it  is  already,  anterior  to  that 
event,  an  earthly,  Israelitish,  but  by  no  means  carnal,  kingdom  of  glory, 
precisely  as  the  prophets  have  pictured  it,  and  whom  Jesus  contradicts 
in  no  part,  but  whose  prophecy,  connecting  Himself  therewith,  He  ever 
presupposes,  Matt.  19:  28;  Acts  1 :  6-8.  Jesus  was,  consequently,  as  all 
the  prophets  and  apostles  were,  a  Chiliast. 

FROM  KLIEFOTH'S  OFFENBARUNG  JOHANNIS. 

(Dritte  Abtheilung.  pp.  266,  267.^ 

Hengstenberg  thinks  that  the  idea  of  l^aav  (Rev.  20 :  4-6)  is  not  to  be 
explained  from  the  idea  of  avacraais,  but  the  contrary.  This  is,  indeed, 
an  inversion  and  preposterous.  The  avaaraakg  must  not  be  explained 
from  t&aav  but  the  latter  is  to  be  explained  from  the  former,  which  is 
added  by  way  of  exposition,  and  the  idea  of  the  i&aav  is  so  to  be  con- 
ceived that  it  will  include,  not  exclude,  the  idea  of  the  resurrection,  to 
be  taken  in  its  proper  sense,  according  to  verse  5.  But,  we  would  again 
go  wrong  if,  with  Ewald  and  De  Wette,  we  take  the  i&oav  as  equivalent 
to  bvefyoav  or  "  lived  again,"  resuscitati  sunt — without  anything  further. 
The  indefinite  expression  l&oav  is  intentionally  chosen  with  respect  to 
the  two  classes  named  in  the  text,  viz. :  the  dead  blood-witnesses  of 
Christ  or  the  martyrs,  and  the  unmartyred  living  confessors.  Of  both  it 
is  said,  "they  lived."  Applied  to  the  first  class,  the  bodily  dead,  it 
certainly  means  their  return  to  life  by  a  bodily  resurrection.  It  is  true 
of  them  that  t&aavt  precisely  as  it  was  true,  in  chapter  2:8,  of  Christ 
Himself,  the  Great  Martyr,  that  He  e&oev,  came  to  life  again.  Applied 
to  the  second  class,  however,  it  means,  as  we  know  from  1  Thess.  4 : 17, 
1  Cor.  15:51-53,  that  they  shall  "be  changed"  by  transformation,  into 
that  condition  to  which  the  blessed  dead  come  through  resurrection.  It 
is  this  attraction  of  the  corruptible  into  incorruption,  and  of  the  swal- 
lowing up  of  mortality  by  life,  that  is  unquestionably  indicated,  for  both 
classes,  by  the  one  verb  £&aav,  "  they  lived."  Excellently  has  Bengel 
explained  it  He  says,  "They  became  alive  in  that  part  in  which  they 
were  dead  already,  or  were  mortal,  consequently  in  their  body.  The 
dead,  through  the  resurrection  of  their  dead  body,  the  living  through  the 
transformation  of  their  mortal  body,  came  to  the  condition  of  life,  ». «., 
immortality  and  incorruption." 

FROM  ROTHE'S  DOGMATIK. 

(Zweiter  Theil  pp.  57-77.) 

Extraordinary  changes  in  the  whole  visible  world  shall  immediately 
precede  the  Coming  of  the  Lord.  With  the  return  of  the  Redeemer  full 
redemption  comes  for  His  believing  people.  His  kingdom  now  enters 


CRITICAL  APPENDIX.  497 

upon  earth,  the  proper  Basileia,  the  Chiliastic  Kingdom,  into  which, 
immediately  at  His  appearing,  the  angels,  with  the  sound  of  the  trumpet, 
gather  the  elect  from  under  the  whole  heaven.    This  Kingdom  the 
Redeemer  has  defined  as  the  Kingdom  of  God,  the  Kingdom  of  His 
Father,  His  own  Kingdom  and  assigned  and  secured  to  Him  by  the 
Father's  will,  the  Kingdom  prepared  for  the  righteous,  and  the  "  Regener- 
ation." This  Kingdom  which  He  sets  up  immediately  after  His  Parousia, 
He  designates  under  manifold  images.    He  pictures  it  especially  as  a 
Marriage-Supper,  as  a  Festive-Banquet,  as  the  Joy  of  the  Lord.  Especially 
is  it  set  forth  as  a  Feast  of  Joy  to  be  celebrated  with  patriarchs  and 
prophets,  precisely  as  the  Jewish  writers  describe  the  blessedness  of  the 
Messianic  Kingdom  under  the  same  figure.    That  this  picture  is  iden- 
tical with  the  Kingdom  of  God,  at  the  appearing  of  Christ,  is  evident 
from  a  comparison  of  Matt.  8:11  with  Luke   13:28,29.    The  twelve 
Apostles  shall  sit  with  Him  upon  the  twelve  thrones  judging  the  twelve 
tribes  of  Israel.  A  narrower  or  wider  circle  of  activity  shall  be  accorded 
to  each  one,  in  proportion  to  His  fidelity  to  the  Lord  in  the  present  age. 
He,  moreover,  designates  the  blessedness  of  this  Kingdom  as  an  inherit- 
ing of  the  earth,  for,  to  this  Chiliastic  Kingdom,  the  passage  Mat.  5:5 
must  be  referred.    During  the  existence  of  this  Kingdom,  many,  never- 
theless, still  find  themselves  excluded,  and  in  the  place  of  punishment 
and  death."     "  The  Apostles,  unanimously  expected  the  return  of  Christ, 
to  enter  upon  this  Kingdom,  on  earth.     In  general  terms,  they  designate 
this  return  as  His  "Parousia,"  His  "Apocalypse,"  His  " Phanerosis," 
His  "Epiphany,"  and  fix  it  at  the  "Day  of  the  Lord,"  or  absolutely 
"The  Day."    Then,  the  Lord  returns  from  heaven  in  like  manner  as  He 
went  up  into  heaven.    He  appears  again,  as  sent  of  God,  in  glory,  at  the 
trumpet's  sound,  descending  from  heaven,  surrounded  by  angels  and 
saints,  coming  to  those  who  look  and  long  for  him,  to  an  oppressed 
church  in  whom  He  will  be  glorified,  for  its  final  deliverance  from  all 
evil,  and  for  vengeance  upon  all  who  obey  not  His  Gospel.    At  His 
return  all  true  believers  shall  be  gathered  together  to  Him,  and  remain 
with  Him  forever — a  return  unexpected  by  the  world,  and  sudden  like 
lightning,  but  not  unexpected  by  believers— a  return,  fixed  by  Apostles, 
as  in  the  "  last  time,"  but  still  regarded  as  impending,  a  thing  psycholog- 
ically most  natural,  since  His  Parousia  was  blended  with  the  prophecy 
of  judgment  on  Jerusalem.    They  believed  it  probable  in  their  own  day. 
But,  still,  they  announced  certain  signs  that  must  precede  the  Parousia, 
and  that  at  the  Parousia  the  Old  Testament   prophecies  will  receive 
their  fulfillment.  (Acts  3 : 21.)   Before  the  Parousia,  the  gospel  should  be 
proclaimed  to  all  the  nations,  Rom.  11 :  25,  then  "  hard  times  " — xate™l 
Kfiipol — should  come,  2  Tim.  3: 1,  the  deep  moral  and  religious  corruption 
of  men,  the  great  apostasy,  antichrist,  2  Thess.  1 : 12.     "  At  the  Parousia, 
32 


498  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

Beast  and  False  Prophet  are  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire,  Rev.  19 : 20,  21, 
and  all  antichristian  power  is  annihilated,  2  Thess.  2 :  8.    The  Apostles 
describe  the  Chiliastic  Kingdom.    Paul,  in  his  letter  to  the  Hebrews, 
calls  it  "  a  Sabbatism "  for  the  people  of  God.      James  calls  it  the 
"Basileia"  which  God  has  promised  to  them  that  love  Him,  the  poor 
in  this  age,  but  rich  in  faith.     Especially  does  Paul  describe  it  as  a 
reigning  of  believers  "  together  with  Christ."    The  Apocalypse  exhibits 
this  co-regency  as  the  chief  element  of  blessedness  in  the  Chiliastic 
Kingdom.    The  redeemed  reign  with  Christ,  sit  on  His  throne,  have 
power  over  the  nations,  aud  participate  in  the  destruction  of  the  enemies 
of  their  Lord.    Priests  and  Kings,  they  receive  white  robes,  garments 
of  light,  and  in  these  walk  about  with  the  Redeemer.    They  obtain  the 
hidden  manna,  eat  of  the  Tree  of  Life,  wear  the  crown,  and  possess  the 
white  stone,  with  the  new  name,  which  none  know  but  they  who  have 
it.    They  are  pillars  in  the  Temple  of  God  to  go-out  no  more,  and  over 
them  the  second  death  has  no  power.  The  Apocalypse  fixes  the  duration 
of  this  Kingdom  at  1,000  years,  during  which  Satan  is  bound,  and  after 
which  Satan  is  let  loose  to  array  Gog  and  Magog  against  the  camp  of  the 
saints,  when  fire  from  heaven  descends  to  destroy  the  enemies  of  the 
Kingdom,  and  Satan  and  they  together  are  cast  into  the  sulphurous  pool 
where  Beast  and  False  Prophet  already  are,  to  be  tormented  forever  and 
ever."  (Rev. 20: 11-15.)    "The  Redeemer  asserts  distinctly  the  future 
resurrection  of  the  body.      And  still  His  utterances  so  sound  as  to 
separate  that  of  the  righteous  from  that  of  the  wicked,  both  as  to  fact 
and  time.    So  in  Luke  20 : 35,  where  the  discourse  is  not  of  the  resur- 
rection in  general,  but  distinctly  of  a  resurrection  to  the  earthly  Kingdom 
of  the  Redeemer,  the  so-called  "  First  Resurrection."    So  it  sounds  (es 
klingf)  when  He  calls  Himself  the  "  Resurrection  and  the  Life;  "  when 
He  says,  "All  that  the  Father  gives  Him  shall  come  to  Him,  and  He  will 
raise  them  up  at  the  last  day ;  "  "  all  who  believe  in  Him ; "  "  all  who  eat 
His  flesh  and  blood,"  where  the  clear  implication  is  that  the  rest  of  the 
dead  awake  not  at  the  same  time.    Such  a  distinction  He  makes  in  Luke 
14 : 14,  a  resurrection  for  the  pious,  a  resurrection  for  the  wicked.,  So 
the  Apostle  Paul,  1  Cor.  15 : 23,  compared  with  Rom.  8 : 10,  contemplates, 
not  a  general  resurrection,  but  that  of  believers — "  they  who  are  Christ's," 
"  the  sons  of  God."    The  Apocalypse  distinguishes  a  first  and  second 
resurrection.    The  first  resurrection,  which  ensues  at  the  same  time  with 
the  Advent,  Rev.  19:11-21,  is  expressly  described  as  the  "First,"  Rev. 
20 : 4-6.    In  it,  only  the  martyrs  and  they  who  have  remained  pure  from 
the  contamination  of  the  world-power,  have  a  share.    These,  and  only 
these,  reign  with  Christ  1,000  years,  while  the  "  Rest  of  the  dead  "  awake 
not  to  life.  After  the  expiration  of  these  years,  and  victory  over  Satan  let 
loose,  then  the  rest  of  the  dead  arise  for  judgment,  Rev.  20: 11-15.    In 


CRITICAL  APPENDIX.  499 

consequence  of  the  complete  separation  of  antichrislian  men,  by  means 
of  the  appearing  of  Christ,  the  development  of  His  people  perfects  itself 
in  the  completed  Kingdom  of  God.  This  perfect  earthly  dominion  of 
the  returned  Redeemer,  as  Head  of  the  perfect  Christian  Kingdom,  is 
His  earthly  Kingdom  of  glory— the  Chiliastic  Kingdom— identical  with 
the  marriage-supper  of  the  Lamb. 

FROM  RODS'  INTERPRETATION  OF  DANIEL. 

(In  Aubcrlen's  Daniel,  p.  451.) 

The  Revelation  of  John,  or  rather  the  Revelation  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  resembles,  in  many  ways,  the  prophecies  of  Daniel,  embracing, 
as  it  does,  a  great  part  of  the  same  period  described  by  Daniel;  but  the 
two  books  differ  in  several  respects.  Daniel  begins  with  a  period  earlier 
than  the  Revelation,  for  the  latter  does  not  speak  of  Babylonian,  Persian, 
and  Greek  kingdoms,  which  at  the  time  of  John  belonged  to  the  past- 
Whereas  the  Apocalypse  extends  into  more  remote  times  than  Daniel,  and 
also  contains  a  description  of  the  last  1,000  years  of  the  world,  the 
beginning  and  character  of  which  were  revealed  to  Daniel,  as  also  the 
final  judgment,  the  New  Jerusalem,  etc.  The  prophecies  of  Daniel  refer, 
in  the  first  place,  to  Christ  and  the  Roman  destruction  of  Jerusalem, 
Dan.  9.  They  then  describe  the  last  Antichrist,  11 : 36.  But  the  great 
intermediate  period,  from  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  to  Antichrist  is 
filled  up  by  the  Revelations  of  St.  John,  which  extend  to  the  times  of 
Antichrist.  With  regard  to  the  fourth  period  of  the  world,  or  the  last 
1,000  years  of  the  world,  there  is  no  book  of  the  Bible  which  treats  of  them 
exclusively;  but  the  promises  referring  to  that  blessed  time  are  scattered 
throughout  the  Scriptures,  and  added,  as  a  source  of  consolation  and 
hope,  to  the  prophecies  concerning  the  dangers  and  afflictions  of  the 
Church.  And  let  this  suffice.  In  this  order  we  must  speak  and  write 
about  it.  It  is  revealed,  not  to  satisfy  curiosity,  but  to  strengthen  our 
faith  and  to  quicken  our  hope.  It  is  easy  for  us  to  bear  good  and  joyful 
events  whenever  they  come,  though  they  were  not  circumstantially 
foretold.  But  it  consoles  a  Christian,  who  is  often  grieved  and  distressed, 
in  these  dark  times,  and  who  has  a  zeal  for  the  honor  of  Jesus  Christ 
and  His  Kingdom,  to  look  forward  to  the  golden  times,  when  all  pia 
desideria  will  be  fulfilled  and  realized,  and  to  see  them,  even  now,  in 
the  mirror  of  the  divine  word. 

FROM  SCHMID'S  BIBLICAL  THEOLOGY  OF  THE  NEW 
TESTAMENT. 

(Pp.  245-269.) 

According  to  the  practical  idea  of  it,  the  Kingdom  of  God,  in  the 
teaching  of  the  Lord,  is  a  divine  order  of  things  realized  through  Christ 


500  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

the  Redeemer  as  one  developing  itself  from  within.  This  development 
is  opposed  to  the  view  of  an  outward  realization  which  is  not  based  on 
any  spiritual  life.  This  merely  material  view  is  resisted  by  the  Lord  in 
the  case  of  the  Jews,  especially  in  Luke  17 :  20,  21.  Together  with  this 
stress,  laid  on  its  invisible  nature,  the  Lord  also  depicts,  in  verse  24,  this 
same  Kingdom  as  appearing  visibly.  As  the  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth, 
it  is,  in  the  first  place,  a  fellowship  of  men.  It  also  embraces  humanity 
as  a  whole  without  limitation  to  any  particular  part  thereof  in  contrast 
to  the  choice  of  the  Jewish  people.  The  Gospel  will  be  preached  to  the 
whole  world.  It  also  comprises  heaven  and  earth,  and  likewise  the  com- 
ing periods  of  the  world,  both  before  and  after  the  judgment.  The 
stages  of  the  development  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  are  the  stages  and 
various  modes  of  His  Parousia.  There  are,  therefore,  two  chief  periods 
of  God's  Kingdom,  which  are  separated  by  the  epoch  of 'judgment. 
The  Lord  describes  them  as  ^Eons,  the  present  as  "  this  Age,"  the  other 
as  the  "Age  to  come."  The  epoch  which  forms  the  point  of  division 
between  the  two  periods  may  be  perceived  from  Matt.  24:3,  etc.  By 
it  the  characters  of  the  two  periods  are  described.  Just  as,  under  the 
Old  Testament  dispensation,  a  divine  prophecy  was  given  in  respect 
to  the  gradual  development  and  final  shape  of  the  divine  Kingdom, 
so  Jesus  also  predicted  the  future  course  of  God's  Kingdom.  The 
chief  epochs  brought  forward  are  the  first  and  last  periods  which 
are  inwardly  allied  with  one  another,  and  the  interval  lying  between 
these  two  points.  The  first  epoch  is  the  destruction  of  the  Jewish  State 
and  Church.  This  epoch  bears  a  twofold  character  as  a  judgment  and 
a  deliverance.  And  this  is  what  it  has  in  common  with  the  last  epoch. 
The  coloring  of  the  representation  is  therefore  somewhat  similar  in  both. 
On  the  old  theocracy  a  judgment  came,  and  as  regards  the  Christian 
Church,  a  similar  judgment  is  impending  in  the  end  of  the  present  Age. 
In  the  interval  between  these  two  epochs  lies  the  period  of  the  spread  of 
Christianity  among  all  nations.  This  period, 'therefore,  may  be  more 
protracted  than  seemed  likely  at  the  beginning  when  the  consummation 
of  the  first  epoch  was  alone  looked  to.  The  last  epoch  is  the  end 
of  this  Age,  the  entire  cessation  of  the  present  temporal  period. 
This  epoch  is  spoken  of  as  the  day  of  judgment,  the  last  day,  the  deci- 
sive hour.  Supposing  that  the  word  "  immediately  "  (Matt.  24 :  29)  is 
taken  in  its  proper  meaning  and  not  as  equivalent  to  suddenly  (which  is 
evidently  impossible),  and  that  verses  29-31  are  interpreted  in  the  most 
natural  way  as  referring  to  the  latest  future,  still  an  explanation  may  be 
found  of  this  conjunction  of  events  by  assigning  it  to  the  nature  of 
prophecy,  which,  in  a  far-reaching  prospective  delineation,  can  depict 
distant  objects  as  close  at  hand,  and,  in  spite  of  a  preparatory  interval, 
can  comprehend  in  one  glance,  even  as  regards  time,  events  which  are 


CRITICAL  APPENDIX.  501 

ideally  allied.  The  whole  course  of  development,  as  regards  its  chief 
epochs,  is  conditional  on  the  Advent  of  the  Lord,  and  the  judgment  com- 
ing on  the  earth.  The  Parousia  of  Christ  is  spoken  of  in  Matt.  24:  27, 
39 ;  Luke  17 :  24,  30.  This  coming  of  the  Lord  affects,  however,  the  first 
as  well  as  the  last  epoch  of  God's  Kingdom.  We  have  this  coming 
described,  sometimes  as  close  at  hand,  sometimes  distant,  sometimes  as 
determinate,  and  sometimes  as  indeterminate.  From  all  this  we  may 
gather  that  it  is  not  one  single  fact  which  is  in  question,  but  something 
comprehensive  and  continuous.  His  constant  presence  must,  therefore, 
be  distinguished  from  the  special  moments  of  His  extraordinary  mani- 
festations in  which,  indeed,  the  former  is  outwardly  produced.  They 
form  a  Parousia  of  Christ,  and  on  them  the  development  of  the  Church, 
or  Kingdom  of  God,  is  dependent.  With  the  Parousia  a  continuous 
judgment  is  united.  The  Lord  speaks  of  the  judgment  as  present,  as 
future.  The  final  judgment  follows  at  the  end  of  time  in  the  end  of  the 
Age.  The  judgment  in  the  Church  is  distinguished  from  the  universal 
judgment,  and  is  thus  represented  in  the  parables  of  the  ten  virgins,  and 
of  the  talents.  The  former  judgment  has  to  do  with  faithful  conduct 
in  Christ's  Kingdom.  By  the  completion  of  this  judgment  the  "  Regen- 
eration "  is  also  brought  about,  which  coincides  with  the  commence- 
ment of  the  "  Age  to  come."  This  relates  to  the  whole  world,  and  is 
therefore  a  regeneration  of  the  whole  world  in  general,  and  consequently 
a  renovation  of  nature  in  the  sense  of  Rom.  8: 18-23.  For  the  faithful, 
in  particular,  it  is  also  the  "Resurrection  of  Life"  (Luke  14:14),  the 
shining  forth  of  the  righteous  (Matt.  13:43),  and  this  is  a  glorification 
of  the  body  and  not  of  the  spirit  only.  (Matt.  22:23-33.) 

FROM  KOCH'S  DAS  TAUSENDJAHRIGE  REICH. 

(Pp.  1-29, 195-197.) 

Whatever  obscurity  may  rest  upon  various  parts  of  the  Apocalypse, 
one  thing  is  perfectly  clear  to  every  reader,  and  that  is  the  train  of 
thought  in  the  section  from  Chapter  19  to  the  end  of  the  whole  book. 
After  the  triumph  song  pre-celebrated  by  the  heavenly  dwellers,  in 
chapter  19:5-7,  the  verses  11-21  treat  of  the  return  of  Christ,  the  judg- 
ment upon  the  Beast,  the  False  Prophet,  and  their  armies ;  chapter  20 : 1-6 
of  the  1,000  years'  kingdom  after  the  destruction  of  the  Beast;  verses  7-9 
of  the  last  assault  of  Gog  and  Magog  at  the  end  of  the  1,000  years; 
verses  10-15  of  the  judgment  upon  Satan,  and  upon  men,  which  follows 
the  annihilation  of  Gog  and  Magog  and  coincides  with  the  final 
world  catastrophe;  and,  lastly,  the  closing  section  of  the  book,  chapter 
22:6-21  follows  the  section,  chapter  21 : 1  to  22:5,  which  treats  of  the 
glory  of  the  New  World  that  enters  in  the  place  of  the  Old.  Antichrist 
summons  the  nations  to  a  grand  march  against  the  people  of  God.  His 


502  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

armies  cover  the  holy  land  and  besiege  the  "  Beloved  City."  All  hope 
of  human  deliverance  is  gone.  Then  heaven  opens  and  the  Lord  Jesus, 
accompanied  by  myriads  of  His  saints,  steps  forth  from  His  conceal- 
ment. Beast  and  False  Prophet  are  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire.  Satan  is 
bound  and  shut  up  in  the  abyss.  The  "  First  Resurrection  "  and  the 
1,000  years'  Kingdom  ensue.  After  the  1,000  years,  Gog  and  Magog  are 
vanquished,  and  Satan  is  judged.  The  final  judgment  of  mankind  takes 
place,  followed  by  the  New  Heavens  and  Earth,  the  Tabernacle  of  God 
being  with  men.  This  is  the  clear  order  of  events  in  Chapters  19  to  22. 
We  see  how  firm  and  uninterrupted  is  the  connection.  Nothing  can  be 
taken  out,  nothing  substituted  in  one  place  for  another.  It  is  impossible 
to  sunder  Chapter  20:1-6,  which  treats  of  the  1,000  years'  Kingdom 
from  what  both  precedes  and  follows  it.  The  dominion  of  believers 
awaked  to  life  by  Christ,  can  not,  in  any  way,  be  transferred  to  a  church- 
historical  period,  concerning  whose  beginning  and  end  we  are  left  to 
dispute,  to  and  fro.  Rather  it  begins  first  of  all,  after  the  destruction  of 
the  Beast,  the  Antichrist,  for  it  is  the  reward  of  fidelity  which  the  mar- 
tyrs have  shown  during  the  time  of  Antichrist,  in  not  worshipping  the 
Beast  nor  his  image,  not  receiving  his  mark  in  their  forehead  or  hand, 
of  which  the  whole  discourse  speaks  in  the  preceding  chapters.  Com- 
pare Chapter  13: 14-17.  In  like  manner,  it  is  utterly  impossible  to  put 
the  assault  of  Gog  and  Magog  before  the  1,000  years,  for  it  is  expressly 
said  that  "  when  the  1,000  years  are  expired  "  Satan  shall  go  out  to 
deceive  the  nations  that  are  in  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth.  (20 :  7,  8.) 
How  exactly  everything  is  linked  together,  like  the  links  of  a  chain,  is 
evident,  if  we  but  closely  observe  what  is  said  of  Satan  in  the  preceding 
section.  Before  the  1,000  years,  Satan  is  found  upon  the  earth  to  which 
he  had  been  cast  down  from  heaven,  Chapter  12 :  2,  and  where  he  gave  to 
Antichrist  his  power,  13:  2.  At  the  beginning  of  the  1,000  years  he  is 
cast  down  from  earth  into  the  abyss  in  order  that  he  may  deceive  the 
nations  no  more,  as  he  had  formerly  done,  20:  3.  When  the  1,000  years 
are  ended  he  is  let  loose  again  for  a  short  season,  and  once  more  deceives 
the  nations  upon  earth,  20:  8.  Finally,  he  is  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire 
where  he  finds  the  Beast  and  False  Prophet  already  before  him  and  who 
had  been  brought  there  at  the  time  he  himself  was  shut  up,  19:  20. 
Heaven,  Earth,  the  Abyss,  Earth,  the  Lake  of  Fire,  these  are  the  five 
stations  in  Satan's  downfall.  There  are  three  different  conceptions  of 
Apoc.  20 : 1-6.  Some  interpret  it  of  a  timeless  spiritual  condition,  others 
interpret  it  of  the  past,  others  of  the  future. 

The  first  or  spiritualistic  method  of  interpretation  comes  fatally  into 
contradiction  with  the  Apocalypse,  in  all  imaginable  points.  If  the 
1,000  years  begin  with  the  Day  of  Pentecost,  it  is  certain  that  Christians, 
and  consequently,  also,  spiritual  priests  and  kings  to  God,  have  existed 


CRITICAL  APPENDIX.  503 

since  the  outpourings  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  On  the  contrary,  the  Apoca- 
lypse begins  these  years  first  after  the  j  udgment  upon  the  Beast  of  the 
returning  Lord;  so  that  if  the  spiritual  kingdom  of  believers  is  what 
was  predicted  in  chapter  20th.  we  are  obliged  to  conclude  that  this  same 
spiritual  kingdom  shall  first  commence  after  the  destruction  oi  the 
Beast  at  the  second  coming  of  Christ!  If  the  1,000  years  end  with  the 
return  of  Christ  to  the  last  and  universal  judgment,  it  is  certain  there 
will  be  true  believers  up  to  that  time,  spiritual  Priests  and  Kings  who, 
therefore,  shall  pass  over  from  the  Church  militant  to  the  Church  tri- 
umphant. On  the  contrary,  the  Apocalypse  ends  the  1,000  years  with 
the  insurrection  of  Gog  and  Magog,  so  that,  if  the  spiritualistic  view  is 
taken,  we  are  obliged  to  conclude  that  the  dominion  of  the  spiritual 
kings  over  Sin,  Death,  and  Satan,  is  not  a  very  secure  one,  but  wanes 
away  before  the  assault  of  Gog  and  Magog!  This  view  regards  the  first 
resurrection  as  the  spiritual  quickening  of  all  from  Pentecost  to  the 
final  Judgment.  On  the  contrary,  the  Apocalypse  speaks  of  the  bodily- 
slain  martyrs,  and  those  who,  in  the  time  of  Antichrist,  have  not  wor- 
shipped the  Beast,  nor  his  Image,  nor  received  his  mark  in  their  fore- 
heads and  hands,  so  that  if  the  discourse  were  here  of  regeneration,  it 
would  follow  that  this  is  to  be  looked  for,  first,  after  the  destruction  of 
the  Beast  at  the  second  coming  of  Christ  in  glory!  It  regards  the  bind- 
ing of  Satan  as  effected  in  the  reconciling  Death  of  Christ,  who  has 
spoiled  him  of  his  power.  On  the  contrary,  the  Apocalypse  represents 
this  power  as  taken  away,  first,  after  the  destruction  of  the  Beast  by 
Christ  returned  to  earth.  As  a  result  of  this  view,  Satan  having  once 
been  spiritually  bound  by  the  Death  of  Christ,  can  never  come  forth 
again  from  his  prison,  since  Christ,  not  merely  for  a  time,  but  forever, 
has  crushed  spiritually  the  head  of  the  Old  Serpent.  On  the  contrary, 
according  to  the  Apocalypse,  Satan  is  let  loose  from  his  prison  after  the 
1,000  years  are  expired,  so  that  if  the  discourse  here  were  of  the  victory 
of  Christ  in  his  Death,  over  Satan,  then  that  victory  has,  indeed,  not 
been  an  enduring  one !  Again,  as  a  result  of  this  view,  the  dominion  of 
the  Beast  continues  with  all  its  pictured  abominations,  throughout  the 
same  period  as  that  in  which  believers  reign  triumphantly  with  Christ, 
— a  period  regarded  as  timeless — for  whatever  be  the  Beast  (the  Papacy), 
it  is  located  in  a  time  of  church  history,  the  time  in  which  there  is  a  com- 
munity of  believers,  and  consequently  the  dominion  of  believers  has 
also  continued  throughout  this  period  —  while  yet  that  dominion, 
according  to  chapter  20 :  4,  is  first  given  after  this  period  is  closed  as 
a  reward  to  those  who,  during  this  period,  have  not  worshipped  the 
Beast!  Still  more,  as  a  result  of  this  view,  not  merely  the  dominion 
of  the  Beast  fal]s  within  the  1,003  years,  but  also  the  insurrection  of 
Gog  and  Magog,  for  whatever  be  Gog  and  Magog  (the  Turk,  they  say), 


504  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

the  appearing  of  the  same  is  ever  put  in  a  period  of  Church  history,  in 
which,  at  the  same  time,  there  is  a  community  of  believers,  and  conse- 
quently the  government  by  such,  as  Priests  and  Kings,  victorious  over 
Sin,  Death  and  Satan,  has  been  in  full  activity.  And  yet  the  Apocalypse 
says  expressly  that  Gog  and  Magog  first  rise  up  in  revolt  after  the  1,000 
years'  reign  of  Christ  and  His  saints  are  expired!  Thus  does  this  con- 
ception happily  effect  the  miracle  that  the  kingdom  of  the  Beast  (the 
Papacy),  the  1,000  years'  kingdom  of  priestly  and  royal  dominion  (the 
Millennium),  and  Gog  and  Magog  (the  Turk),  are  all  mutually  accom- 
modated in  one  and  the  same  period !  The  rise  of  such  a  conception 
was  only  possible  by  a  violent  sundering  of  chapter  20th  from  its  con- 
nection with  what  precedes  and  follows. 

The  second  method  of  interpretation  conceives  the  1,000  years  as  a 
measure  of  time,  but  locates  the  same,  either  in  whole  or  in  part,  in  the 
past.  More  correct  than  the  former  view,  it  regards  the  1,000  years  as 
a  definite  historical  period.  But  what  period?  In  the  old  Church 
many  supposed  the  commencing  date  of  these  years  to  be  coincident 
with  the  Birth  of  Christ,  the  great  turning-point  in  history,  when  the 
power  was  taken  from  Satan,  and  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  was  at  hand. 
On  the  contrary,  suffice  it  say,  that,  as  already  seen,  the  1,000  years  do 
not  begin  with  the  First  Advent  of  Christ,  but  with  His  Second,  for  the 
destruction  of  Antichrist.  Others  fixed  the  commencing  date  at  the 
time  of  Constantine's  victory  and  the  establishment  of  Christianity  as 
the  Roman  State-Religion.  In  modern  times,  Hengstenberg,  regarding 
the  Beast  as  the  Heathen  State,  and  the  1,000  years'  reign  of  Christ  with 
His  risen  saints  as  the  supremacy  of  its  successor,  the  modern  Christian 
State,  consequent,  however,  only  upon  the  conversion  of  the  Germans 
to  Christianity  (the  White-Horse  Vision,  19:11),  and  the  "First  Res- 
urrection," as  this  blessed  condition,  together  with  the  ascension  of 
souls  to  glory  at  death,  dates  the  1,000  years  from  Christmas  eve,  A.  D. 
800,  the  time  of  the  erection  of  the  "  Holy  Roman  Empire  "  and  cor- 
onation of  Charlemagne  by  Pope  Leo  III.  The  end  of  the  millennium, 
therefore,  was  A.D.  1800,  the  time  of  the  French  Revolution,  when 
Satan  was  let  loose  "  for  a  little  season,"  our  present  time  being  that  of 
"Gog  and  Magog,"  or  "Modern  Infidelity,"  with  the  last  judgment  at 
the  door.  This  view  has  found 'but  few  supporters.  It  is  superior  to  the 
former,  however,  in  this,  that  it  recognizes  the  1,000  years  as  a  measure 
of  time,  and  maintains  the  temporal  sequence  of  chapter  20th  upon 
chapter  19th,  and  so  the  true  order  of  events,  viz.,  (1)  the  Kingdom  of 
the  Beast,  (2)  the  overthrow  of  the  Beast,  (3)  the  Millennium,  (4)  the 
invasion  of  Gog  and  Magog,  (5)  the  Universal  Judgment,  (6)  the  New 
Heavens  and  Kurth.  The  great  and  fatal  objection  to  Hengstenberg's 
interpretation  is  that  the  history  of  the  Church  and  world,  from  A.D. 


CRITICAL  APPENDIX.  505 

800  to  1800,  is  utterly  at  variance  with  the  elevated  words  of  John  con- 
cerning the  Millennial  reign. 

The  third  method  of  interpretation  conceives  the  1,000  years  as  still 
future,  and  subsequent  to  the  Second  Advent.  Here,  first  of  all,  the 
false  Chiliasm  advocated  in  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  by  the  fanat- 
ical Anabaptists,  is  to  be  mentioned.  They  taught  a  future  glorious 
Kingdom  of  Christ  on  earth,  but  imagined  that  the  immediate  erection 
of  this  kingdom  was  a  matter  of  the  first  importance  to  the  Christian 
Church.  By  her  own  might,  sword  in  hand,  it  must  be  established, 
just  as  it  was  attempted  by  Thomas  Miinzer  to  overthrow  the  Christ- 
opposed  powers  of  this  world  (even  as  Israel  overthrew  the  Canaan- 
ites  formerly),  in  order  to  proclaim  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  as  the  Fifth 
Monarchy  which  was  to  succeed  the  four  universal  monarchies  described 
by  Daniel.  Against  this  conception  of  the  1,000  years'  kingdom, — and 
only  against  this, —  was  the  17th  Article  of  the  Augsberg  Confession 
directed,  which  rejected  the  Jewish  opinion  that  believers  should  enjoy 
on  earth,  before  the  Resurrection,  a  worldly  kingdom  after  a  general  crush- 
ing out  of  the  wicked.  But  not  merely  by  the  Augustana,  but  also  by 
the  Scriptures,  is  this  false  Chiliasm  condemned,  because,  as  already 
shown,  the  erection  ot  the  Millennial  Kingdom,  according  to  the 
prophet's  words,  is  not  the  result  of  any  such  Church  action,  but  comes 
only  by  means  of  the  returning  Lord,  an  event  which  the  Church  awaits 
with  patience,  and  which  at  last,  it  can  only  realize,  not  by  works,  but 
by  suffering.  Kindred  with  this  false  Chiliasm,  is  a  conception  of 
modern  theology,  according  to  which  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  is  to  be 
realized  by  means  of  Church  action,  not,  indeed,  violently,  but  gradually 
and  in  a  peaceful  way.  The  sanctifying  influence  of  Christianity  is  to- 
ever  more  powerfully  extend  itself,  in  ever  widening  circles,  the  power 
of  sin  evermore  retreating  before  it,  until,  finally  at  the  close  of  its 
historical  development,  all  humanity  shall  be  glorified  into  a  Kingdom 
of  God.  Even  this  finer  form  of  Chiliasm,*  like  the  coarse  form  advo- 
cated by  the  Anabaptists,  is  condemned  by  the  Apocalypse  of  John. 
According  to  this,  wickedness  does  not  decline  in  the  course  of  history, 
but  rather  ascends  to  its  most  fearful  antichristian  height,  while  on  the 
other  hand,  also,  the  Church  is  purified  by  means  of  her  tribulations,  in 
the  last  time.  Not  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  the  moral  influence  of 
Christianity,  puts  an  end  to  Antichristianity,  but  the  Judgment  of  the 
returning  Lord,  with  which  the  glorious  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth 
makes  its  entrance. 

From  what  has  been  said,  it  is  clear  what  is  the  correct  conception  of 
Apoc.  20: 1-6.    The  1,000  years'  kingdom  does  not  embrace  the  periods 

*  That  is  the  pre-advent  Chiliasm  of  Whitby,  Glasgow,  and  Martensen. 


506  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

of  New  Testament  Church  history.  It  does  not  lie  in  the  past,  but  in 
the  future,  and  yet  it  is  not  erected  by  means  of  the  action  of  the 
Church,  but,  on  the  contrary,  onty  by  means  of  her  returning  Lord 
Himself,  after  the  Judgment  upon  the  kingdom  of  Antichrist.  With 
the  content  of  this  proposition  must  every  conception  agree,  which  does 
not  seek  arbitrarily  to  circumvent  the  manifest  sense  of  Apoc.  20 : 1-6, 
as  it  offers  itself  in  connection  with  what  precedes  and  follows.  Even 
they  who  understand  by  the  Beast,  not  a  secular,  but  a  spiritual,  power, 
the  Papacy,  are  obliged  to  concur  herein.  If  they  would  not  do  vio- 
lence to  the  Apocalypse,  then  they  are  obliged  to  admit,  with  Bengel, 
who  advocates  this  exposition  of  the  Beast,  that  the  destruction  of  the 
Papacy  culminating  finally  in  a  definite  person — Antichrist — ensues  by 
means  of  the  Judgment  on  the  Beast  from  the  returning  Lord,  who 
then  establishes  on  earth  His  1,000  years'  kingdom  of  glory.* 

From  all  this,  Dr.  Keil  seeks  to  make  a  very  easy  method  of  escape. 
He  pursues  here  a  tactic  we  frequently  meet  with  among  antichiliasts. 
With  the  simple  remark  that  the  Apocalypse  announces  events  of  the 
future  not  in  chronological  succession  they  deem  themselves  able  to 
break  up  the  strict  connection  between  these  chapters,  and  so  hold,  in  a 
free-handed  way,  the  1,000  years  as  arbitrarily  to  put  them  wherever  it 
may  suit  their  pleasure.  But,  herein,  they  confound  two  things  essen- 
tially different.  The  question,  does  the  Apocalypse  divide  itself  into 
41  groups  "  of  visions,  each  one  steadily  progressing  lo  the  consummation  ? 
is  a  question  altogether  different  from  this  one,  viz.:  Can  we  so  sunder 
chapter  20  from  chapter  19,  that  the  content  of  the  latter  shall  not  fol- 
low, in  temporal  succession,  the  content  of  the  former?  Dr.  Keil  him- 
self remarks  that  "  the  last  group  begins  with  chapter  19."  Therefore, 
chapter  20  belongs  to  the  same  group  with  chapter  19.  Does  he  really 
imagine  that,  in  one  and  the  same  group,  there  is  no  chronological  suc- 
cession: that  we  are  at  liberty  to  transpose,  at  will,  the  events  here 
prophesied,  putting  the  last  first,  and  the  first  last?  This  would  throw 
everything  into  confusion  from  which  no  one  could  find  his  way  out. 
It  would  fling  the  gate  wide  open  to  all  arbitrariness,  and  make  all 
study  of  the  Apocalypse  a  fruitless  toil.  But  the  case  does  not  so  stand. 
The  seven  seal,  seven  trumpets,  seven  vials  form  separate  groups,  each 
running  on  to  the  end.  Does  Dr.  Keil  really  think  that,  in  each  of 
these  groups,  we  are  at  liberty  to  transpose  the  events  so  that  we  may 
put  the  sixth  seal  in  the  place  of  the  first,  or  the  first  trumpet  or  vial  in 
the  place  of  the  seventh?  Everyone  knows  this  is  impossible.  The 
strictest  chronological  order  dominates  in  each  of  these  groups,  chap- 

*A  complete  demonstration,  from  an  independent  source,  of  thePre-Millennariau- 
ism  of  the  Westminster  Standards. 


CRITICAL  APPENDIX.  507 

ters  19-22.  The  events  follow  one  another,  exactly,  in  temporal  suc- 
cession; the  judgment  on  the  Beast;  the  1,000  years'  kingdom;  Gog 
and  Magog;  the  Last  Judgment;  the  New  World.  Vainly  does  Dr. 
Keil  try  to  rattle  asunder  the  links  of  this  chain.  He  involves  himself 
in  enormous  monstrosities  and  self-contradictions.  Think  of  the  follow- 
ing! He  denies  the  temporal  sequence  of  chapter  20: 1-6  upon  what 
precedes,  and  affirms  that  both  coincide!  So  then,  we  are  to  hold  the 
prodigies  that,  at  the  very  time  when  the  Beast  and  Satan  dominate, 
with  all  their  abominations  on  earth,  believers  dominate  on  earth  also 
with  Christ;  that  at  the  time  when  they  who  have  not  worshipped  the 
B'jast  arc  actually  beheaded,  they  receive,  as  actually  risen  ones,  the 
reward  of  their  fidelity;  that  at  the  very  time  when  Satan  is  bound — 
*.  e.,  from  A.D.  311  to  wfanf—thsA  he  no  further  should  deceive  the 
nations— he  just  then  deceives  them  in  highest  measure,  namely,  by 
means  of  his  instruments — the  Beast  and  False  Prophet;  that  at  the 
time  when  he  is  shut  up  in  the  abyss,  he  is  yet  loose  upon  earth,  where 
he  gives  to  the  Beast  his  power!  What,  then,  means  the  declaration 
that  he  is  to  be  loosed  from  his  prison,  first,  after  the  1,000  years  are 
expired?  He  is  evermore  loose!  Or,  since  Dr.  Keil  denies  that  Satan 
is  cast  1,000  years  into  the  lake  of  fire,  first  after  the  destruction  of  the 
Beast,  what  does  it  signify  that  Satan  is  bound  1,000  years  in  the  abyss 
while  yet  his  instrument,  the  Beast,  has  power  on  earth  during  the  very 
time  Satan  himself  is  bound ?  Or,  has  Dr.  Keil  been  misunderstood? 
It  could  almost  seem  so.  If,  with  Hengstenberg,  he  regards  the  1,000 
years'  kingdom  as  the  Christian  state,  then  we  might  conclude  from  this 
that  he  understands  the  Beast  to  mean  the  Heathen  state.  But,  if  that 
is  the  case,  then  the  1,000  years  follow  the  destruction  of  the  Beast,  and 
as  certainly  as  the  Christian  state  in  Europe  was  only  possible  after 
the  destruction  of  the  Heathen  state,  so  certainly  has  Dr.  Keil  involved 
himself  in  a  self-contradiction,  when  he  denies  the  temporal  sequence 
of  chapter  20  upon  chapter  19.  The  1,000  years' dominion  of  believers 
on  earth  can  never  begin,  so  long  as  the  Beast  lives.  The  contempo- 
raneousness of  the  Beast  and  the  1,000  years,  or  even  the  contempo- 
raneousness of  the  existence  and  dominion  of  the  Beast,  with  the 
imprisonment  of  Satan  in  the  abyss,  is  a  monstrosity.  In  every  refer- 
ence, chapter  20  goes  back  to  chapter  19  as  to  its  necessary  presupposi- 
tion. Upon  this  indissolvable  connection  between  these  two  chapter*,  all 
antichiiiastic  expositions  are  forever  shattered. 

FROM  STEFFANN'S  DAS  ENDE. 

(Pp.  296,  298,  305.) 

The  vision  of  the  White  Horse.  (Rev.  19: 11-21.)    Scarcely  any  proof 
is  needed  to  show  that  this  vision,  notwithstanding  its  similarity  to  the 


508  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

one  in  Chapter  6 :  2,  is  of  a  different  character.  That  represents  the  victori- 
ous progress  of  the  word  of  God,  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  through- 
out the  whole  world.  This,  on  the  contrary,  represents  that  fact  as 
accomplished,  and  the  great  event  that  shall  supervene  in  connection 
therewith.  Beyond  doubt,  in  both,  the  efficient  Personality  is  the  Lord 
Himself.  In  the  former,  as  shown  in  the  opening  of  the  first  seal,  He  is 
veiled  in  the  preaching  of  His  word.  In  the  latter,  or  seen  in  the  pres- 
ent vision,  He  makes  a  visible  appearance  before  all  eyes,  revealed  in 
the  fulness  of  His  divine,  human  Personality,  when  the  Gospel  of  the 
Kingdom  has  been  actually  preached  for  a  witness  to  all  nations  in  the 
world,  as  He  Himself  has  said.  (Matt.  24: 14.)  The  symbolical  dress  in 
the  two  visions  marks  this  distinction.  In  both,  the  White  Horse  is  the 
sign  of  victory,  as  we  have  already  seen,  but  while  in  the  former  a  far- 
smiting  bow  is  found  in  the  hand  of  the  Rider  for  a  sign,  that,  according 
to  Psalm  45,  the  nations  shall  be  smitten  with  the  arrows  of  the  word 
of  God,  here  a  sword  cutting  near  at  hand  proceeds  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Conqueror  for  a  witness  that  the  day  of  judgment  has  come  for  all 
those  who,  though  smitten  by  His  arrows  already,  have  yet  not  yielded 
to  the  Lord  in  willing  submission.  And  while,  there,  "  a  crown  "  is 
given  to  the  Rider,  here,  He  wears  on  His  head  "  many  crowns  "  for  a 
witness  that  the  hour  of  the  completion  of  His  Kingdom,  whose  histori- 
cal development  is  indicated  by  that  offered  crown,  has  now  come. 
Again,  while  it  is  said  of  the  Rider,  in  the  former  vision,  "  He  went  forth 
conquering  and  to  conquer,"  here  he  enters  the  scene  as  one  who  already 
has  conquered,  and,  as  King  of  Kings  and  Lord  of  Lords,  has  impressed 
upon  His  victory , already  won,  the  bloody  seal,  only,  however,  in  the  over- 
throw of  all  His  enemies.  It  is  unmistakable,  according  to  the  whole 
succession  of  visions  in  this  Book,  and  the  import  of  this  vision  itself, 
that  herein  was  shown  to  the  Seer  that  visible  Second  Coming  of  Christ 
after  whose  sign  the  disciples  once  questioned  their  Lord  (Matt.  24:3), 
and  of  which  the  Apostle  Paul  apprised  the  Thessalonian  and  Corinth- 
ian Churches  in  his  letters.  We  stand,  here,  upon  the  threshold  of  a 
great  truth  which,  for  the  most  part,  has  been  well  nigh  lost  to  the 
Christian  Church,  because  it  has  been  wont  to  confound  this  return  of 
the  Lord,  which,  according  to  the  Greek  text,  is  designated  by  the  word 
Parousia,  with  the  final  and  universal  judgment  of  the  world.  The 
Scriptures,  indeed,  speak  only  of  One  Day  of  the  Lord,  but  they  distin- 
guish, most  clearly,  the  Appearing  of  the  Lord,  which  we  have  before 
us  in  the  present  vision,  from  His  Appearing  at  the  general  judgment 
of  the  world.  Already  the  disciples,  in  the  question  above  referred  to 
(M.tt.  24: «),  had  made  the  distinction  between  the  Parousia  and  the 
end  of  the  world.  The  Lord  did  the  same  in  His  answer.  The  Apostle 
Paul  makes  the  same  distinction.  In  all  the  utterances  wherein  he 


CRITICAL  APPENDIX.  509 

speaks  of  the  return  of  the  Lord  (1  Thess.  2:19,  3:13,  4:  15,  5:23,  as 
also  in  2  Thess.  2: 1,  8;  1  Cor.  1:7,  15:  23),  he  makes  use  of  the  expres- 
sion Parousia,  and  intends  what  is  here  pictured  in  the  present  vision. 
In  the  last  quoted  passage  he  expressly  distinguishes  between  the  Par- 
ousia and  the  end.  He  says,  when  speaking  of  the  resurrection,  "  Every 
man  in  his  own  order ;  Christ  the  First  Fruit ;  after  that,  they  who  belong 
to  Christ  at  His  Parousia ;  then,  after  that  the  End,  when  He  shall  have 
surrendered  the  Kingdom  to  the  Father."  That  this  clear  doctrine  of 
the  Scriptures,  the  distinction  between  the  "  Parousia"  and  the  "  End," 
has  been  almost  lost  to  the  Church,  has  its  ground  in  the  fact  that,  since 
Augustine's  time,  the  Scripture  doctrine  of  the  1,000  years  has  been  put 
in  abeyance.  Naturally  enough,  since,  according  to  the  view  of  that 
otherwise  so  great  man,  the  1,000  years'  Kingdom  must  belong  to  the 
past,  all  those  passages  which  treat  of  the  visible  return  of  the  Lord 
are  referred  to  the  end,  and  the  judgment  which  the  Lord  fulfills  at  His 
Parousia  is  confounded  with  the  final  universal  judgment  of  the  end. 
But,  does  not  the  "  Day  of  the  Lord  " — since  Scripture  knows  only  One 
Great  Day — comprehend  both  the  Parousia  and  the  last  universal  judg- 
ment ?  Does  not  even  the  same  Scripture  say  that  "  a  Day  with  the 
Lord  is  as  a  thousand  years  ?"  Yea,  does  not  John  call  the  last  time 
itself,  the  "last  hour?"  What  hinders  us  to  believe  that  the  "  Day  of 
the  Lord  "  begins  with  the  Parousia,  and  ends  with  the  universal  and 
consummate  judgment  ?" 

As  to  the  1,000  years'  Kingdom,  we  have  already  shown  that  the  visions 
of  Chapter  19: 11  to  Chapter  21:  8  stand  in  indissolvable  progressive  con- 
nection.  As  Christian!  has  proved,  the  primitive  Church  recognized  the 
following  order  of  events:  (1.)  The  return  of  the  Lord,  His  Parousia. 
(2.)  The  overthrow  and  removal  of  the  Antichrist  and  False  Prophet. 
(3.)  The  binding  of  Satan  a  thousand  years.  (4.)  The  1,000  years'  King- 
dom. (5.)  The  liberation  of  Satan  for  a  short  time,  and  the  Last  Judg. 
ment  upon  the  same  after  the  days  of  Gog  and  Magog.  (6.)  The  final 
judgment.  (7.)  The  New  Heaven  and  Earth,  with  the  descending  New 
Jerusalem.  From  the  time,  however,  when  the  Roman  Christian  Empire 
acquired  a  secure  and  dominating  status  and  they  began  to  confound  that 
status  with  the  glory  here  predicted,  they  rejected,  according  to  Augus- 
tine's view,  the  future  1,000  years'  Kingdom  and  referred  the  predicted 
glory  (Rev.  20 : 4-6)  to  the  whole  historical  course  of  Christianity.  Thus, 
it  came  to  pass  that  they  sundered  the  connection  of  this  vision  with  the 
preceding,  and  saw  in  it  only  a  kind  of  "  Recapitulation  "  and  summing 
up  of  all  that  had  gone  before.  It  is  the  glory  of  Bengel,  never  to  be 
sufficiently  praised,  that  he  annihilated  that  view,  running  counter,  as 
it  did,  to  all  sound  exegesis,  and  restored  the  indicated  connection  to 
its  right.  All  standard  expositors  of  modern  times  follow  in  the  foot- 


510  SECOND  COMING  OP  CHRIST. 

steps  of  Bengel,  and  only  those  theologians  who  see  in  the  rejection 
of  Chiliasni,  as  the  doctrine  of  the  1,000  years'  Kingdom  is  called,  a 
mark  of  genuine  orthodoxy,  hold  fast  the  Augustinian  interpretation. 
The  Church,  before  Constantino,  with  few  exceptions,  asserted  the  Chili- 
astic  view,  because,  as  Ebrard  says,  "  they  believed  the  holy  word  of 
Christ  and  His  Apostles,  ®f  His  return  for  the  erection  of  His  Kingdom." 
"The  Apostolic  tradition,"  says  Hase,  "  was  so  decided  that  the  Chili- 
astic  faith  was  the  dominating  faith  of  the  first  three  hundred  years." 
Faith  in  the  return  of  Christ  for  the  erection  of  His  Kingdom  upon 
earth,  in  glory,  formed  among  the  people  and  Christians  of  the  first 
three  centuries,  the  substantial  object  and  anchor  of  their  hope.  After 
Constantine,  the  opposite  view  predominated.  Blinded  by  the  outwardly 
prosperous  and  glittering  condition  which  this  Caesar,  after  his  victory 
over  Maxentius,  had  preserved  to  the  Church,  they  beheld,  in  their 
present  form,  the  fulfillment  of  this  prophecy  of  the  1,000  years.  They 
began  to  laugh  at  the  Scriptural  doctrine  of  Papias,  and  after  Augustine, 
the  renowned  bishop  of  Hippo,  had  inserted  his  own  erroneous  view,  in 
place  of  the  other,  in  his  work  on  the  "  City  of  God,"  remained,  during 
the  whole  middle  age,  and  even  after  the  Reformation,  in  the  opinion 
that  the  Church  historical  time  was  the  period  of  the  1,000  years.  It 
has  been  the  general  view  that,  only  in  the  Apocalypse,  not  in  other 
Scriptures,  the  doctrine  of  the  millennium  is  found.  It  is  incorrect. 
It  belongs  to  the  Apocalypse,  as  the  last  book  of  holy  Scripture,  to  illu- 
minate what,  in  other  books,  rests  in  obscurity,  and  briefly  to  put 
together  what  other  Scriptures  have  shown  in  various  places.  As,  when 
some  one  has  already  spoken  much  and  long  of  any  matter  and  gathers 
together  in  a  brief  word,  for  conclusion,  all  that  was  said,  so  does  the 
Apocalypse  relate  itself  to  the  other  testimonies  of  the  holy  Scripture 
concerning  the  1,000  years'  Kingdom.  All  the  Scriptures  proclaim  the 
golden  time.  The  Church  of  the  1,000  years,  as  it  walks  in  the  truth, 
shall  be  free  from  whatever  detracts  from  the  honor  of  its  Lord  and 
Saviour,  and  in  glory  shall  display  a  reality  radiant  with  light,  when, 
impelled  by  the  love  of  a  Mary  Magdalen,  it  pours  forth  the  ointment 
of  a  beautiful  worship,  full  of  odor,  in  presence  of  its  King. 

FROM  MOSES  STUART  ON  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

(Vol.  I.  pp.  176,  178,  397.   Vol.  II.  pp.  360,  475-477.) 

After  investigating  this  subject,  I  have  doubts  whether  the  assertion 
is  correct  that  such  a  doctrine  as  that  of  the  first  resurrection  is  nowhere 
else  to  be  found  in  the  Scriptures.  What  can  Paul  mean,  Phil.  3: 8-11, 
when  he  represents  himself  as  readily  submitting  to  every  kind  of  self- 
denial  and  suffering  "  if  by  any  means  he  might  attain  unto  the  resur- 
rection from  the  dead?"  Of  a  figurative  resurrection,  or  regeneration, 


CRITICAL  APPENDIX. 


Paul  can  not  be  speaking,  for  he  had  already  attained  to  that  on  the 
plains  of  Damascus.  Of  the  like  tenor  with  the  text,  moreover,  seems 
to  be  the  implication  in  Luke  14:14  —  "Thou  shalt  be  recompensed  in 
the  resurrection  of  the  Just."  Why  the  resurrection  of  the  "Just?" 
This  would  agree  entirely  with  the  view  in  Rev.  20  :  5.  There  is  the 
more  reason  to  believe  that  such  is  the  simple  meaning  of  the  words  in 
Luke  14:  14,  inasmuch  as  two  recent  antipodes  in  theology,  Olshausen 
and  De  Wette,  both  agree  in  this  exegesis.  That  it  has  not  been  made 
more  prominent  in  the  New  Testament  is  no  decisive  objection  against 
it.  Where,  but  in  1  Cor.  15  :  24-28,  have  we  any  account  of  Christ's 
resignation  of  His  kingly  power?  Where,  but  in  1  Cor.  6:  2,  3,  are  we 
told  that  "  saints  shall  judge  the  world  and  angels  ?  "  "  The  Apocalypse 
teaches  a  two-fold  resurrection;  the  first,  of  the  saints  at  the  beginning 
of  the  Millennium;  the  second,  of  all  men  at  the  final  consummation 
and  general  judgment."  "They  lived"  means  they  revived,  came  to- 
life,  *.  e.,  returned  to  a  life  like  the  former  one,  viz.:  a  union  of  soul  and 
body.  So  does  the  word  mean  in  Rev.  1  :  8,  and  in  many  other  passages. 
Any  other  exegesis  here  would  seem  to  be  incongruous.  The  e&aav 
must  mean  here,  reviving,  or  rising  from  the  dead.  Thus,  the  Saviour 
speaks  of  Himself  in  Rev.  2:8  as  being  He  who  was  dead  and  e&aev, 
had  revived,  lived  again,  after  the  death  of  the  body.  Thus,  too,  it  is 
said  of  the  Beast,  Rev.  13  :  14,  that  had  the  deadly  wound  of  the  sword, 
that  ££/j.aev,  revived.  Thus,  in  our  context,  also,  it  is  said,  "  The  rest  of 
the  dead  lived  not,  ow  e&aav.  The  point  of  antithesis  which  seems  to 
decide  the  whole  case,  is  the  distinction  of  order,  or  succession,  not  of 
kind.  The  express  contrast  here  made  between  the  partial  and  the 
general  resurrection,  and  the  manner  in  which  this  contrast  is  presented, 
shows  that  the  design  is  not  to  compare  a  spiritual  with  a  physical 
resurrection,  but  to  contrast  the  partial  extent  of  the  latter,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Millennium,  with  its  general  or  universal  extent  at  the  end 
of  the  world.  Putting  all  these  considerations  together,  I  do  not  see 
how  we  can,  on  the  ground  of  exegesis,  fairly  avoid  the  conclusion  that 
John  bas  taught,  in  the  passage  before  us,  that  there  will  be  a  resurrec- 
tion of  the  martyr-saints,  at  the  commencement  of  the  period  after  Satan 
shall  have  been  shut  up  in  the  dungeon  of  the  great  abyss.  Vitringa's 
principal  objection  is  drawn  from  the  alleged  fact  that  the  word  of  God 
reveals  but  one  resurrection  both  of  the  just  and  the  unjust.  This  he 
takes  for  granted,  and  others  have  affirmed,  as  Vitringa  does,  that  we 
are  by  no  means  to  admit  such  a  doctrine,  on  the  doubtful  ground  or 
meaning  of  a  single  passage.  "  Doubtful"  however,  philologically 
considered,  I  think  we  can  not  well  name  it.  Indeed,  if  this  be  not  a 
position,  in  the  interpretation  of  Scripture,  which  is  f^lly  and  fairly 
made  out  by  philology,  I  should  confess  myself  at  a  loss  to  designate 


SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 


one  which  is,  from  among  the  many  difficult  passages  of  the  Scriptures. 
Vitringa  does  not  call  in  question  the  doctrine  that  the  mediatorial 
Kingdom  of  Christ  will  be  given  up,  "  when  the  end  cometh;"  nor  that 
Christ,  "  the  Son  Himself  will  be  subject  to  Him  who  put  all  things 
under  Him,  that  God  may  be  all  in  all,"  1  Cor.  15  :  24-28,  because  these 
doctrines  are  taught  but  once  in  the  Scriptures.  But,  it  seems  to  me 
that  the  passage  before  us  is  not  the  "  only  one  "  in  the  Scriptures  which 
teaches  or  intimates  that  there  will  be  a  first  and  a  second  resurrection. 
I  need  not  discuss  this  subject  again  here.  I  refer  the  reader  to  Phil.  3: 
8-11,  Luke  14:14,  Isa.  26:19,  1  Cor.  15:23,24,1  Thess.  4:16.  In  partic- 
ular does  Paul  seem,  by  his  airapxfi  ....  lustra  ....  hra,  in 
1  Cor.  15  :  23,  24,  to  have  adverted  to  a  first  and  second  resurrection. 

FROM  ALFORD  ON  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

(New  Test.    Vol.11.    Part  II.,  pp.  1088,  1089.) 

The  Millennial  reign.  "I  saw  thrones;"  combine  Dan.  7:9,  and 
Matt.  19  :  28.  "  And  they  sat  upon  them  "—who  ?  The  Apostles,  Matt. 
19:28,  the  saints,  1  Cor.  6:2,  3.  "And  judgment  was  given  to  them;" 
so  in  Dan.  7  :  22,  i.  6.,  they  were  constituted  judges.  "And  I  saw  the 
souls,  etc.  This  is  the  First  Resurrection."  I  can  not  consent  to  dis- 
tort these  words  from  their  plain  sense  and  chronological  place  in  the 
prophecy,  on  account  of  any  considerations  of  difficulty,  or  any  risk  of 
abuses  which  the  doctrine  of  the  Millennium  may  bring  with  it.  Those 
who  lived  next  to  the  Apostles  and  the  whole  Church  for  300  years 
understood  them  in  the  plain  literal  sense;  and  it  is  a  strange  sight,  in 
these  days,  to  see  expositors  who  are  among  the  first,  in  reverence  of 
antiquity,  complacently  casting  aside  the  most  cogent  instance  of 
unanimity  which  primitive  antiquity  presents.  As  regards  the  text 
itself,  no  legitimate  treatment  of  it  will  extort  what  is  known  as  the 
spiritual  interpretation  now  in  fashion.  If,  in  a  passage  where  two 
resurrections  are  mentioned,  where  certain  souls  lived,  at  first,  and  the 
Rest  of  the  rest  of  the  dead  lived  only  at  the  end  of  a  specified  period 
after  that  first  —  if,  in  any  such  a  passage,  the  first  resurrection  may  be 
understood  to  mean  spiritual  rising  with  Christ,  while  the  second  means 
literal  rising  from  the  grave  ;  then  there  is  an  end  of  all  significance  in 
language,  and  Scripture  is  wiped  out  as  a  definite  testimony  to  any- 
thing. If  the  first  resurrection  is  spiritual,  then  so  is  the  second—  which, 
I  suppose,  none  will  be  hardy  enough  to  maintain.  But,  if  the  second 
is  literal,  then  so  is  the  first,  which,  in  common  with  the  whole  primi- 
tive Church  and  many  of  the  best  modern  expositors,  I  do  maintain,  and 
receive  as  an  article  of  faith  and  hope.  "  There  will  be  nations  on  earth, 
besides  the  saints  reigning  with  Christ,  which,  during  the  binding  of 
Satan,  have  been  quiet  and  willing  subjects  of  the  kingdom,  but  who, 


CRITICAL  APPENDIX.  513 

on  his  being  let  loose,  are  again  subjected  to  his  temptations,  which  stir 
them  into  rebellion  against  God.  The  Beloved  City,  v.  9,  is  Jerusalem, 
Psal.  78 :  68 ;  87 :  2,  not  the  "  New  Jerusalem,"  but  the  earthly  city  of  that 
name,  which  is  destined  to  play  so  glorious  a  part  in  the  latter  days. 

FROM  WINTHROP'S   PREMIUM  ESSAY  ON  PROPHETIC 
SYMBOLS. 

(Pp.  66,  67.) 

The  beloved  disciple  speaks  of  the  souls  of  those  who  had  been 
beheaded  for  the  witness  of  Jesus,  and  says  "  they  lived  and  reigned 
with  Christ  a  thousand  years,"  or,  rather,  according  to  the  reading  of 
the  best  editions,  ra  xttta  £r?,  "  the  thousand  years,"  i.  e.,  those  which 
had  been  mentioned  in  verse  3  as  indicating  the  period  of  Satan's  con- 
finement  in  the  abyss.  He  calls  them  souk,  to  identify  them  as  those 
who,  having  been  departed  spirits,  were  to  have  their  portion,  at  the 
epoch  denoted  by  the  vision,  in  the  resurrection  to  immortal  glory.  This 
is  evident  from  the  fact  mentioned  that  this  class  of  the  dead,  the 
blessed  and  holy  "  lived  "  at  the  beginning  of  the  thousand  years,  and 
reigned  with  Christ  during  that  whole  period,  whereas  "  the  rest  of  the 
dead,"  i.  «.,  those  who  at  that  epoch  had  already  died  without  being  in 
the  number  of  the  "  blessed  and  holy  " — lived  not  again  until  the  thou- 
sand years  were  finished.  The  one  class  were  raised  previous  to  the 
thousand  years,  the  other  not  till  after  the  expiration  of  that  period. 
Both  classes  were  disembodied  souls  and  dead  persons  before  the  resur- 
rection, not  after  it ;  and  hence,  as  these  epithets  are  used  as  marks  of 
identity  in  the  two  cases,  the  word  souls  presents  no  more  objection  to 
the  real  literal  resurrection  of  the  one  class  than  the  word  dead  does  to 
that  of  the  other  class.  When  it  is  said  that  the  souls  of  the  martyrs 
"  lived  "  at  the  epoch  referred  to,  the  meaning  can  not  be  that  their  dis- 
embodied spirits  had  no  conscious  existence  during  the  previous  period 
which  had  elapsed  since  the  death  of  their  bodies,  for  that  is  contrary 
to  the  syinbolization  under  the  fifth  seal,  Rev.  6:9-11,  where  they  are 
represented  as  having  such  an  existence,  and  are  enjoined  to  wait 
patiently,  until  their  number  should  be  complete,  when  they  were  to  be 
avenged  upon  their  enemies.  It  can  not  mean  that  these  departed  souls 
were  then  to  have  a  spiritual  resurrection  from  a  death  in  trespasses  and 
sins,  for  no  such  change  takes  place  after  death;  neither  was  it  anymore 
necessary  in  their  case,  for  they  were  "  blessed  and  holy,"  and  hence 
had  been  already  regenerated.  It  can  not  denote  that  the  martyr-spirit 
was  to  revive  during  the  Millennium,  for  living,  agents  denote  living 
agents,  and  not  mere  acts  and  states  either  of  body  or  mind.  Besides, 
the  martyr-spirit  is  an  enduring,  patient  disposition  in  the  midst  of 
trials  and  persecution ;  but  there  will  be  no  opportunity  for  the  exercise 


514:  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

of  any  such  spirit  during  the  Millennium.  It  is  conceded  that  men,  in 
general,  if  not  universally,  will,  at  that  epoch,  be  holy.  Public  opinion 
will  then  be  as  strong  against  persecution  for  righteousness  sake  as  it 
ever  was  in  its  favor.  The  persecuting  civil  and  ecclesiastical  rulers 
denoted  by  the  wild  beast,  and  the  false  prophet,  will  have  been  cast 
into  the  place  of  punishment  symbolized  by  the  lake  of  fire,  Rev.  19 : 20. 
The  organized  confederacy  against  Christ  will  have  been  completely 
overthrown.  Rev.  19:11-21.  The  fallen  angels  symbolized  by  Satan 
their  chief,  Rev.  20:  2,  3,  will  have  been  shut  up  in  the  place  denoted  by 
"the  bottomless  pit;"  that  they  should  deceive  the  nations  no  more  till 
the  thousand  years  are  fulfilled,  Rev.  20 : 3.  Neither  men,  nor  devils 
can  disturb  the  saints  during  the  period  foreshown.  It  is  a  time  of 
triumph  and  rejoicing,  not  of  endurance  and  suffering.  How,  then, 
can  there  be  any  room  for  the  exercise  of  the  martyr-spirit  ?  There  is 
but  one  other  meaning  the  word  "  lived  "  can  have,  as  here  used,  and 
that  is  that  the  souls  of  the  righteous  lived  again  in  union  with  their 
bodies.  The  whole  collective  mass  of  the  dead  are  divided  into  two 
parts,  the  "  blessed  and  holy,"  whose  portion  is  in  the  first  resurrection. 
These  are  one  part.  The  other  part  have  their  portion  in  the  last  resur- 
rection. As  the  latter  is  real,  so  must  the  former  be  real,  also.  As  the 
resurrection  at  the  end  of  the  thousand  years  is  a  literal  resurrection, 
so  is  also  that  at  the  beginning  of  the  thousand  years. 

FROM  JAMIESON'S,  FAUSSETT'S,  AND  BROWN'S,  CRITICAL 
COMMENTARY. 

(Vol.  VI.,  pp.  329,  476,  512,  721.) 

Every  man  in  his  own  order.  The  Greek  is  not  abstract  but  con- 
crete; image  from  troops,  each  in  his  own  regiment.  Though  all  shall 
rise,  not  all  shall  be  saved,  nay,  each  shall  have  his  proper  place.  Christ 
first,  after  Him  the  godly  who  die  in  Christ,  in  a  separate  band  from  the 
ungodly.  Then  the  "  End,"  i.  e.,  the  resurrection  of  the  "  rest  of  the 
dead."  Christian  churches,  ministers,  and  individuals,  seem  about  to 
be  judged  first  "  at  His  coming,"  (Matt.  25 :1-30) ;  then  "  all  the  nations" 
(Matt.  25:31-46).  Christ's  own  flock  shall  share  His  glory  "at  His 
coming,"  which  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  the  "End,"  or  General 
Judgment  (Rev.  20:11-15).  The  latter  is  not  here  discussed,  but  only 
the  "  First  Resurrection."  Christ's  second  coming  is  not  a  mere  point 
of  time,  but  a  period  beginning  with  the  resurrection  of  the  just,  and 
ending  with  the  general  judgment.  Again:  "The  mere  manifestation 
of  Christ's  coming — vntfyavtiq,  rfc  irapoaatac—is  enough  to  consume  An- 
tichrist. He  is  cast  alive  into  a  lake  of  fire  (Rev.  19 :  20).  So  the  world- 
kingdom  of  the  Beast  gives  place  to  that  of  the  Son  of  Man  and  His 
saints."  Again:  "Christ's  Kingdom"  is  to  be  manifested  at  His 


CRITICAL  APPENDIX.  515 

"Appearing,"  when  the  saints  shall  reign  with  Him.  His  Kingdom  is 
real,  now,  but  not  visible.  It  shall  then  be  visible,  also.  Now,  he  rules 
in  the  midst  of  His  enemies,  expecting  till  they  shall  be  overthrown. 
Then  He  shall  reign  with  his  adversaries  prostrate.  Again:  "Satan's 
binding  is  the  necessary  consequence  of  the  events  (Rev.  19 : 20),  just  as 
Satan's  being  cast  out  of  heaven  where  he  was  previously  the  accuser 
of  the  brethren,  was  the  legitimate  judgment  passed  on  him  through 
the  death,  resurrection,  and  ascension  of  Christ  (Rev.  12 : 7-10).  As  before, 
he  ceased,  by  Christ's  ascension,  to  be  accuser  in  heaven,  so  during  the 
Millennium,  he  ceases  to  be  seducer  and  persecutor  on  earth.  He  will 
not  be,  as  now,  the  god  of  the  world,  nor  will  the  world  lie  in  the 
wicked  one.  The  flesh  will  become  evermore  overcome.  Christ  will 
reign,  with  His  transfigured  saints,  over  men  in  the  flesh.  The  nations 
in  the  Millennium  will  be  prepared  for  a  higher  state,  as  Adam  in  Par- 
aclise,  supposing  he  had  lived  in  an  unfallen  state.  *  *  The  Millen- 
nial reign  on  earth  does  not  rest  on  an  isolated  passage,  but  all  Old 
Testament  prophecy  goes  upon  the  same  view.  The  "  First  Resurrec- 
tion "  is  the  resurrection  of  the  just. 

THE  PAHOUSIA,  NZANDER,  LECHLER,  GLOAG,  OLSHAUSEN, 
MEYER,  BAUMGARTEN,  HACKETT,  DA  COSTA. 

(On  Acts  3:19-21.) 

"  What  are  we  to  understand  by  the  u  times  "  of  refreshing  and  restor- 
ation ?  Are  they  the  same,  or  are  they  different  things  ?  Doubtless, 
virtually  the  same;  and  the  one  phrase  will  help  us  understand  the  other. 
The  restitution,  or  rather  the  restoration,  of  all  things  is  said  to  be  the 
theme  of  all  prophecy.  Then,  it  can  only  refer  to  the  "  Kingdom  of 
God,"  the  end  and  purpose  of  all  God's  dealings  with  Israel.  It  was  a 
phrase  well  understood  by  the  Jews  of  that  period,  who  looked  forward 
to  the  days  of  the  Messiah,  the  Kingdom  of  God,  as  the  fulfillment  of 
all  their  hopes  and  aspirations.  It  was  the  coming  Age  aiuv  6  //f/l/lw, 
when  all  wrongs  were  to  be  redressed,  and  truth  and  righteousness  were 
to  reign."  "  Nothing  can  be  more  clear  than  the  connection  and  coinci- 
dence of  these  events,  the  coming  of  Christ,  the  times  of  refreshing, 
and  the  times  of  restoration  of  all  things."  "  The  regeneration,  TTO/UV- 
yeveaia,  of  Matthew,  is  the  precise  equivalent  of  the  restituting,  aKOK.aTa.a- 
Tacic,  of  the  Acts.  What  is  meant  by  "the  Regeneration"  is  clear 
beyond  the  shadow  of  a  doubt,  for  it  is  the  time  when  "  the  Son  of  Man 
shall  sit  upon  the  throne  of  His  glory." — Parousia,  pp.  150,  151:  Lon- 
don, 1878  —  So  even  Neander  is  obliged  to  confess.  "  When  the  time 
arrives  for  the  completing  of  all  things,  that  Great  Period  to  which  all 
the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament  point  from  the  beginning,  then 
Christ  will  appear  again  on  earth  to  effect  the  completion.  Planting 


516  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

and  Training,  p.  39.  So  Lechler :  "  This  restitution  commences  with 
the  return  of  Christ  whom  the  heaven  receives  during  the  interval,  but 
whom  God  will  personally  send."  In  Lange  on  Acts. — So  Gloag:  "  The 
sending  of  Christ  is  to  be  considered  either  as  contemporaneous  with 
the  times  of  refreshing,  or  as  immediately  following  them.  The  refer- 
ence is  evidently  to  an  objective,  and  not  a  subjective,  advent.  So  long 
as  the  unbelief  of  Israel  continues,  Christ  will  remain  in  heaven; 
but  their  repentance  and  conversion  will  bring  about  the  times  of 
refreshing  and  of  the  restoration  of  all  things  which  will  either  pre- 
cede or  coincide  with  the  Second  Advent. — Comment,  on  Acts,  Vol.  I., 
pp.  133-135.  So  Olshausen:  "The  grammatical  connection  requires 
us  to  consider  both  expressions  as  the  same,  and  as  not  referring  to  the 
present  time.  The  Corning  of  Christ,  accordingly,  i.  e.,  the  Parousia,  is 
to  be  conceived  of  as  coinciding  with  the  times  of  refreshing,  and  His 
sojourn  in  the  heavenly  world  closes  with  His  return  to  earth  for  the 
completing  of  his  -work."  Comment.,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  402.  So  Meyer: 
"  Peter  has  the  idea  that  the  times  of  refreshing  and  the  Parousia  enter 
so  soon  as  the  Jewish  nation  recognizes  Jesus  as  the  Messiah.  These 
seasons  of  refreshing  are  the  times  in  which,  by  means  of  Messiah's 
appearing  in  His  Kingdom  for  the  poor  oppressed  people  of  God, 
quickening  and  happiness  shall  rind  place."  Kommentar.  III.,  p.  89. 
So  Baumgarten :  "The  miracle  wrought  upon  the  lame  man,  Acts  3 : 
1-11, 19,  was  a  sign  for  Israel.  It  contains  an  allusion  to  that  external 
power  which  Jesus  shall  one  day  reveal  in  the  case  of  Israel,  and  on 
the  Holy  Mountain.  The  times  of  refreshing,  it  is  easily  seen,  can  not 
be  regarded  as  yet  present.  The  coming  of  these  times  is,  according  to 
verse  20,  to  be  coincident  with  the  mission  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  "send- 
ing" is  explained  by  the  words  the  angels  addressed  to  the  Apostles  on 
Mount  Olivet,  at  the  time  of  the  ascension.  It  could  hardly  hnve 
escaped  the  Apostles  at  the  time,  that  this  return  of  Jesus  would  be 
coincident  with  the  period  of  the  restoration  of  the  Kingdom  to  Israel. 
Now  it  is  a  matter  of  certainty  with  them."  **  The  devices  by  which  the 
promises  concerning  the  Kingdom  and  the  people  are  explained  away, 
as  referring  to  a  merely  spiritual  kingdom,  and  community  of  saints, 
were  entirely  unknown  to  the  Apostles."  Apost.  Hist.,  pp.  19,  87,  91. 
SoHackett:  "  Nearly  all  critics  understand  this  passage  as  referring 
to  the  return  of  Christ  at  the  end  of  the  world."  Comment,  on  Acts,  p. 
63.  So  Da  Costa:  "Who  has  given  us  the  right,  while  contemplating 
the  literal  fulfillment  of  the  judgments  on  the  Hebrews,  to  alter  sud- 
denly the  principle  of  interpretation,  where  the  curse  is  changed  into 
a  blessing?  Who  gives  us  the  right,  by  arbitrary  exegesis,  to  apply  the 
promises  of  the  Christian  Church  to  the  Gentiles,  when  the  judgments 
evidently  could  not  have  been  intended  for  them  ?  There  is  then  a 


CRITICAL  APPENDIX.  517 

future  for  Israel ;  for  the  long-degraded  outcasts,  an  approaching  glory. 
Israel  and  the  regenerate  nations  will  triumph  together  over  the  Gen- 
tiles who  have  forgotten  God,  and  who  oppose  the  Kingdom  of  Christ. 
Israel's  King  will  be  the  King  of  all  Nations."  Israel  and  the  Gentiles, 
p.  624.  See  also  Doddridge,  Bloomfield,  and  Calvin,  on  Acts  3:  19-21. 

FROM    REV.    GEO.    DUFFIELD,  D.D.,    DISSERTATIONS    ON 
THE    PROPHECIES. 

(P.  186.) 

Not  one  word,  or  hint,  is  heard  from  Christ  or  His  Apostles  about  the 
enjoying  a  thousand  years'  prosperity  before  His  coming.  Not  the 
slightest  trace  of  such  a  Millennium  as  the  Spiritualists  describe,  con- 
sisting in  the  universal  prevalence  of  the  gospel,  is  to  be  found  in  the 
New  Testament,  excepting  the  disputed  passage  in  Revelations.  From 
the  Saviour's  lips  there  never  dropped  the  most  remote  hint  on  the  sub- 
ject. On  the  contrary,  He  said  that  in  the  world  His  disciples  should 
have  tribulation.  He  forewarned  them  of  persecutions  and  trials  as 
their  uniform  lot,  and  of  such  nature  as  to  be  totally  incompatible  with 
the  idea  of  a  temporal  Millennium,  of  the  character  expected  by  the 
Spiritualists.  Nay,  more :  He  expressly  predicted  that,  down  to  the 
very  time  of  the  end,  His  followers  would  have  to  guard  against  decep- 
tion, and  the  imposition  of  false  Christs  and  pretenders ;  that  wars 
and  rumors  of  wars  should  prevail,  and  instead  of  a  thousand  years 
of  universal  peace,  under  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  nation  would 
rise  up  against  nation,  and  kingdom  against  kingdom,  and  there  should 
be  famines  and  pestilences,  and  earthquakes,  in  divers  places,  and  other 
things  wholly  inconsistent  with  the  Spiritualists'  notions  of  the  Millen- 
nium. We  defy  any  man  to  produce  a  single  passage  on  the  subject 
from  the  lips  of  Christ,  of  such  a  Millennium  as  the  Spiritualists  expect. 
And  is  it  at  all  likely  that,  if  the  prophets  had  predicted  such  a  Millen- 
nium, and  sung  so  nobly  and  sweetly,  and  in  such  exalted  and  extrav- 
agant strains  about  it,  He  would  never  have  referred  to  it  during  the 
whole  period  of  His  ministry,  especially  when  He  undertook  expressly 
to  expound  one  of  the  most  important  predictions  of  Daniel,  and  to 
answer  explicitly  His  disciples'  question,  what  should  be  the  sign  of 
His  coming  and  the  end  of  the  world? 

FROM  REV.  R.  J.  BRECKENRIDGE,   D.D.,  KNOWLEDGE    OF 
GOD,  SUBJECTIVELY  CONSIDERED. 

(Pp.  668-670.) 

Concerning  the  glory  of  the  Church,  and  the  Consummation  of  the 
Covenant  of  Grace  with  respect  to  her,  the  Scriptures  appear  to  me  to 
reveal,  as  yet  future,  two  states  very  distinct  from  each  other,  namely, 


518  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

her  Millennial,  and  her  Eternal  state.  The  former  I  judge  to  be  upon, 
and  connected  with,  this  earth,  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  corrup- 
tion into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God,  as  the  Apostle 
expresses  it,  explaining  at  the  same  time  that  we  ought  to  hope  with 
confidence,  and  wait  with  patience,  for  that  glorious  "  manifestation  of 
the  sons  of  God."  That  Millennial  glory  seems  to  me  to  be  a  Dispen- 
sation of  the  Covenant  ot  Grace  as  distinct  and  as  real  as  any  preceding 
Dispensation  under  that  Covenant,  and  that  it  can  no  more  be  considered 
merely  the  perfection  of  the  Gospel  Church  than  that  Church  can  be  con- 
sidered merely  the  perfection  of  the  Jewish  Dispensation.  I  do  not,  how- 
ever, understand  that  the  Millennial  state  is  the  final  state  of  the  kingdom 
of  God.  *  *  Its  Eternal  state  is  still  higher,  still  more  glorious.  It  is 
the  Second  Coming  of  the  Son  of  Man  which  initiates  the  Millennial 
glory  of  His  Kingdom.  It  is  at  the  delivering  up  of  the  Kingdom  by 
the  Son  to  the  Father,  upon  the  Lamb's  Book  of  Life,  after  He  shall 
have  put  down  all  rule  and  authority  and  power,  all  His  enemies  under 
His  feet,  and  Death,  the  last  of  them,  destroyed,  that  the  Eternal  Glory 
of  the  Church  begins.  *  *  I  speak  with  great  hesitation  upon 
topics  so  sublime,  so  remote  from  human  thinking,  and  upon  which  the 
mind  of  this  generation  of  God's  true  children  seems  to  be  at  once  so 
anxious  and  so  unsettled.  What  I  insist  on  is,  the  Consummation  of 
the  Covenant  of  Grace  with  reference  to  the  Kingdom  of  God,  first  in 
Millennial  Glory,  and  then  in  the  Eternal  state  of  immediate  fruition 
of  God,  both  which  await  the  Church  of  Christ. 

FROM  DUSTERDIECK'S  OFFENBARUNG  JOHANNIS. 

(Pp.  554-551.) 

As  to  what  is  said  (Apoc.  20: 1-10),  the  unprejudiced  establishment 
of  the  excgetical  result  of  the  passage,  and  the  theological  judgment 
put  upon  what  is  found  according  to  the  analogy  of  Scripture,  are  to 
be  distinguished,  and  only  by  means  of  the  first  are  we  to  arrive  at  the 
second.  The  exegetical  understanding  of  Apoc.  20 : 1-10,  in  whole,  or  in 
parts,  has  its  most  essential  condition  in  the  recognition  of  the  fact  that 
what  is  here  pictured  immediately  precedes  the  universal  j  udgment  proper, 
v.  11,  and  follows  those  judicial  acts  of  the  whole  catastrophe  pictured, 
19 : 19-21 :  in  other  words,  every  exposition  is  wrong  which  regards  v. 
1-10  as  a  "Recapitulation,"  which  is  only  possible  by  means  of  an  alle- 
gorical interpretation.  This  false  method  of  exposition  was  made  avail- 
able by  Augustine  expressly  in  a  polemical  interest  against  the  Chiliasts. 
The  exegetical  principle  leading  to  this  result  has  been  followed  by  all 
those  who,  like  Hengstenberg,  have  found  in  v.  1-10  prophecies  whose 
fulfillment  could  be  recognized,  somehow  or  other,  in  events  and  con- 
ditions of  the  church  or  the  world,  falling  within  the  current  period  of 


CRITICAL  APPENDIX.  519 

time.  This  method  of  exposition  is  obliged  to  resort  to  an  allegorizing 
of  the  passage  which  necessarily  becomes  the  most  arbitrary  precisely 
where,  in  the  clearest  manner,  an  utterly  different  explanation  is 
required.  Augustine,  for  example,  in  order  to  fix  the  1,000  years  during 
the  present  continuance  of  the  Church,  is  compelled  to  find  their  com- 
mencing  date,  i.e.,  the  Binding  of  Satan,  in  the  earthly  life  of  Christ, 
and  to  interpret  the  Casting  out  of  Satan  into  the  Abyss  as  meaning 
his  expulsion  from  Christendom  into  the  hearts  of  the  wicked,  or  non- 
Christian  nations.  The  first  Kesurrection  he  explains  spiritually,  as  in 
Col.  3 : 1,  and  remarks,  v.  5,  that  we  are  not  to  suppose  by  the  "  Thrones" 
and  "Judgment,"  that  the  last  Judgment  is  referred  to,  but  simply  the 
present  spiritual  government  of  the  Church  by  the  Apostles.  Agreeably 
with  this,  he  expounds  verse  8,  which  speaks  of  Gog  and  Magog,  as 
meaning,  by  Gog,  a  "  Roof,"  or  "  Cover,"  (tectuna),  and  by  Magog, 
"  From  under  the  Roof,"  or  "  Cover,"  (de  tecto.)  Thus,  Gog,  the  "  Cover," 
is  the  non-Christian  nations,  the  "muUitudo  innumerdbilis  impiorum" 
in  whose  hearts  Satan  is  shut  up  and  bound  for  1,000  years,  while  Ma- 
gog, "  from  under  the  cover,*'  is  Satan  himself  coming  out  from  these 
hearts  or  nations,  for  a  little  season,  after  the  1,000  years  are  expired  — 
"procedens;— illce  nut  tectum,  ipse  de  tecto!"  Similar  misconceptions  are 
found  in  Victorinus,  who  explains  the  number  1,000  from  10,  which 
indicates  the  Decalogue,  and  from  the  number  100  which  indicates  the 
crown  of  virginity,  "because  whoever  has  preserved  his  virginity  intact 
has  fulfilled  the  Decalogue  and  guarded  against  impure  manners,  and 
impure  thoughts  within  the  bed  of  his  heart,  lest  they  might  rule  there. 
Such  a  one  is  truly  a  priest  of  Christ,  and  having  accomplished  the 
millennary  number,  reigns  with  Christ,  etc.,  etc;  "*  also,  by  Bede  who, 
for  example,  refers  the  First  Resurrection  to  Baptism;  by  Hammond, 
Grotius,  and  others,  who  fix  the  time  of  Satan's  Binding  in  the  time  of 
Constantino,  and  by  Gog  and  Magog  understand  the  Turk ;  by  Wet- 
stein,  who  regards  the  1,000  years  as  the  times  of  Messiah  reduced  to  the 
period  of  only  40  years  onward  from  the  death  of  Domitian,  Gog  and 
Magog  being  Barcochba ;  and  by  Hengstenberg  and  others,  who  fix  the 
beginning  of  the  1,000  years  at  the  coronation  of  Charlemagne,  A.D.  800. 

*NOTE. — Diisterdieck  is  wrong  in  quoting  these  words  as  those  of  Victorinus. 
They  are  nothing  more  or  less  than  Jerome's  shameful  and  criminal  mutilation  of  the 
•work  of  that  noble  man.  See  Moses  Stuart,  Apoc.  I. ,491,  495.  Stuart  asks,  with  just 
criticism,  "  Could  Jerome  write  such  stuff  as  this,  and  expect  any  one  to  respect  his 
opinions?"  But  it  is  the  style  of  many  Auti-Chihasts,  even  in  our  own  day.  Man- 
Bel  has  noted  the  fact  that  "  both  Mosheim  and  Neander  consider  the  accounts  of 
the  sensual  Chiliasm  of  Cerinthus  to  be  misrepresentations.'1''  Mansel.  Gnostic 
Heresies*,  114.  To  this  hour,  many  Anti-Chiliasts  persist  in  attributing  "gross  sen- 
sualism "  to  the  Chiliasm  of  even  the  martyrs,  and  their  only  authority  is  the  mis- 
representation of  those  holy  men  by  the  enemies  of  their  doctrine.  One  would  think 
after  the  censures  administered  by  scholars  like  Mede,  Homes,  Newton,  Corner, 
Hebart,  Mansel,  and  others,  more  modesty  would  become  some  who  assail  the  mar- 
tyr-faith with  equal  injustice  in  our  day.  H.  W. 


520  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

Far  more  correctly  than  all  these  Allegorists,  have  the  Chiliasts 
interpreted  the  passage,  in  so  far  as  to  reject  the  fond  and  favorite  Reca- 
pitulation theory,  and  allow  the  1,000  years'  Kingdom  to  remain  in  the 
place  where  it  is  found  in  the  apocalyptic  picture  of  the  whole  end. 
Besides,  all  who,  on  the  ground  of  the  Apocalypse,  have  sincerely 
believed  in  the  future  entrance  of  the  1,000  years'  kingdom,  like  Justin, 
Irenseus,  etc.,  have  not  indulged  in  such  sensuous  and  imaginative 
colorings  of  the  apocalyptic  picture  as  were  peculiar  to  Cerinthus  and 
other  Chiliasts  who  were  regarded  as  heretics.  Conformably  with  the 
text,  Justin  and  Irenseus,  in  particular,  held  fast  the  fact  that  the  1,000 
years'  kingdom  follows  the  "  First  Resurrection,"  that  of  the  righteous,  and 
that  this  kingdom  is  upon  the  earth,  correctly  regarding  the  "Beloved 
City "  of  verse  9  to  be  Jerusalem.  Both  these  fathers  take  the  1,000 
years  in  their  proper  sense.  And  more  correctly  do  they  interpret  than 
Auberlen  who,  from  the  assumption  that  the  not  yet  glorified  earth  can 
not  be  the  abode  of  the  glorified  church,  concludes  that  believers,  who 
come  forth  with  Christ  from  their  invisibility  in  heaven,  shall  be  clothed 
with  glorified  bodies  and  then  return  with  Christ  to  heaven,  from  there 
to  rule  over  the  earth — thus  utterly  disregarding  the  contradiction  of  this 
view  in  verse  9.  More  correctly,  too,  have  the  old  Chiliasts  viewed  the 
chronological  matter  of  the  1,000  years,  than  Bengel,  who  thought  he 
discovered  two  periods  of  1,000  years  each,  the  first  of  these  beginning 
A.D.  1836,  with  the  destruction  of  the  Beast  and  Binding  of  Satan,  the 
other  with  the  letting  loose  of  Satan,  and  terminating  immediately  before 
the  end  of  the  world. 

The  biblico-theological  discussion  of  Apoc.  20: 6,  which  Gerhard  (Loci 
theol.  T.  XX.  134)  directs  against  the  Chiliasts,  he  opens  with  the 
reminder  that  the  sayings  of  the  Apocalypse  are  to  be  explained,  more 
certainly,  from  the  Analogy  of  the  Holy  Scripture,  because  the  Apoc- 
alypse is  itself  a  deutero-canonical  Book.  *  He  holds  that,  from 
this  Analogy,  it  is  clearly  established,  first,  that  the  Kingdom  of  Christ 
will  never  be  an  outward  royalty  on  earth,  not  even  at  the  end  of  the 
days;  then,  that  all  the  dead  shall  rise  in  one  day;  then,  that  there  shall 
be  but  one  universal  resurrection  of  the  dead,  at  the  Parousia  of  the 
Lord.  Consequently  (so  Gerhard  turns  around,  for  he  also  falsely 

*So  Dledrich,  saying,  "We  take  the  Apocalypse,  however,  as  a  canonical  Book, 
yet  we  see  nothing  else  therein  than  what  we  see  in  the  pictures  and  parables  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments.  What  the  Scripture  elsewhere  teaches  must  explain  the 
Apocalypse,"  upon  which  Hebart  justly  remarks,  ll  To  what  end,  then,  is  the  Apoca- 
lypse—if not  altogether  superfluous— if  nothing  new  is  given  therein?  If  there  is  no 
progress  in  knowledge  and  understanding?  What  of  the  promise  of  the  Lord  to  His 
Apoj-tles,  that  the  Spirit  should  guide  them  into  the  full  truth,  and  show  them  things 
to  come?  If  the  d-sign  of  the  Apocal.vp-e— a  thing  not  controverted— was  to  give 
Something  new,  it  is  a  false  principle  to  say  that  it  must  be  explained  only  by  what 
appears  in  other  Scriptures.  Far  more  correct  is  the  principle  of  exposition,  that  the 
explanation  of  the  Apocalypse  must  not  contradict  the  other  Scriptures."  (Hebart. 
Fur.  ChiliasniUB.  7.  K.  \V.) 


CRITICAL  APPENDIX. 


interprets  what  is  written  Apoc.  20:  1-10),  the  commencing  date  of  the 
1,000  years  is  probably  to  be  recognized  as  the  time  of  Constantine,  and 
the  Turk  is  to  be  regarded  as  Gog  and  Magog  !  It  is,  however,  rather 
to  be  judged  that  neither  the  distinction,  made  by  the  Apocalyptist,  of  a 
first  and  second  resurrection,  nor  the  insertion  of  the  1,000  years'  kingdom, 
nor  the  Binding  and  Loosing  of  Satan,  nor  the  assault  of  Gog  and  Magog, 
agree  with  the  eschatological  expressions  of  the  canonical  Scriptures, 
in  such  manner  as  that  this  apocalyptic  picture  can  be  accepted  seriously 
as  matter  of  doctrinal  instruction.*  Rather  the  text  itself  is  to  be  under-  " 
stood  as  an  ideal  representation  whose  individual  features  can  only 
harmonize  when  we  rightly  estimate  the  ideal  character  of  the  whole 
prophetic  portrait.  What,  according  to  the  really  doctrinal  prophecy  of  the 
Scripture,  falls  upon  the  one  day  of  the  Coming  of  the  Lord,  viz.,  the 
resurrection  of  all  the  dead  —  in  which  believers,  however,  have  the 
precedence  —  and  the  universal  judgment,  appears,  in  the  Apocalyptic 
picture,  as  distributed  throughout  a  long  succession  of  special  yet  con- 
nected acts,  but  not  in  the  sense  as  if  a  special  period  of  time,  like  that 
of  the  1,000  years'  kingdom,  had  any  place  between  the  resurrection  of 
believers  and  that  of  other  persons.  Hereupon  rests  the  vital  beauty  of 
the  apocalyptic  Drama.  This  poetic  beauty,  however,  is  not  only 
destroyed,  but  reversed  in  Chiliastic  want  of  understanding,  if  we  regard 
this  ideal  representation  as  an  impartation  of  doctrinal  instruction.  The 
ideal  character  of  the  whole  representation  reveals  itself  unambiguously 
herein,  that  the  Risen  Saints  have  their  camp  in  the  earthly  Jerusalem 
and  are  assaulted  by  earthly  heathen  nations  ;  moreover,  also,  the  exist- 
ence of  heathen  enemies,  after  that  all  the  dwellers  on  the  earth 
are  slain,  19:21,  only  then  becomes  a  harmless  inconsequence  when 
the  matter  has  no  reference  whatever,  either  here  or  there,  to  real  things," 
(*'.  «.,  to  save  the  Apocalypse  from  the  charge  of  a  harmful  inconsequence,. 
caused  by  misinterpretation,  we  must  resort  to  the  ideal  theory  !  N.  W.) 

*I  render  this  sentence,  and  what  follows,  simply  to  show  how  completely  Diister- 
dieck,  who  is  a  specimen  Prseterist,  breaks  down  in  his  otherwise  admirable 
exegesis,  because  of  his  utter  blindness  to  the  apotelesmatic  law  of  prophecy 
and  symbolism,  here,  and  consequent  inability  to  reconcile  the  later  eschatology 
of  John  with  that  of  earlier  less  developed  representations  in  other  Scriptures  (See 
Einleit,  p.  43,  and  Lange  on  Apoc.  p.  352),  for  the  same  observation.  He  concludes 
upon  the  identical  grounds  Diouysius  of  Alexandria  did,  that  the  Apocalypse  is  not 
an  Apostolic  Book  and  is  entitled  only  to  a  deutero-canonical  place.  (Eiuleit  p.  95.) 
In  face  of  his  own  literal  interpretation  of  the  Parousia  (Apoc.  19:11),  literal  resurrec- 
tion and  judgment,  he  suddenly  resorts  to  the  ideal  theory  of  exposition,  and  gives 
us  an  ideal  1,000  years,  dissolving  the  element  of  time  altogether,  the  1,000  years 
being  a  symbol  of  ideal  totality,  perfection,  or  eternity  Whence  it  would  follow, 
according  to  verse  7,  that,  after  totality,  perfection  of  eternity  is  u  expired  "  or 
"ecumenicity,"  or  as  others  say,  the  Devil  shall  be  loosed  for  a  "little  season,"  when 
totality,  perfection,  eternity,  and  ecumenicity  will  begin  again!  How  can  Du'ster- 
dieck  consistently  protest  against  the  Allegorists,  and  yet  adhere  to  his  "  poetic 
drapery  theory?"  His  "hoc  volo  sic  jubeo"  is  no  better  than  theirs.  Symbols  are 
neither  metaphors  nor  flounces.  N.  W. 


TEXTUAL  ISTDEX. 


Showing  where  scripture  passages  which  relate  more  particularly  to 
pre-millennial  subjects  may  be  found,  as  either  quoted,  cited  or  treated 
upon  in  this  volume.  For  sake  of  brevity  we  have  grouped  several  con 
secutive  verses  though  only  one  may  sometimes  be  referred  to. 

PAGE. 

Genesis....  13:  15 118 

15:  18 234 

"  17:  8 118 

Isaiah 11: 139,163,  230,234,235 

24  and  27:. ...163 

25:6-9 7 

40:..-. 129 

43: 131,132 

44: 132 

49: 133,134 

59:21 135 

"  60: 136,164 

61:... 136,164,480 

65:17-25 111,129 

66: Ill,  129, 163,  230,  260 

Jeremiah  ..21: 141 

23: 141 

30:10-11 7 

31:10 ,7 

31:31 135,142,234 

33: 140 

Ezekiel... .20:  32-38 251 

36:21-36 143,  164,  167,  222,  234 

37:15-22 224 

Daniel 2: 257,  318 

"  6:4... -.182 

7: 166,215,318,320,321,512 

8: 216 

9: 216 

«  11: 215,216 

«  12:1 250 

"  12:2 92 

523 


524  TEXTUAL  INDEX. 


PAGE. 

Daniel 12: 12-13 321,  482 

Micah 143 

Habakkuk  .2:3 438 

Zepiianiah  .3 :  8-21 144 

Zechariah._12:10 464 

12  and  14 145, 146,  147, 163,  228,  231,  250,  251,  488 

Matthew... 3:  2 186,  199 

"  6:10 495 

7:21-23 433 

10:23 274 

12:32 330 

13 65,  274,  411,  495 

13:24-30 6,209 

16:  18 188 

16:26-27 274,434 

19 :  28 110, 156,  227,  265,  275,  481,  496,  512: 

22:31-32 81 

24:3 31,40,500,508 

24:12 6 

24:13 6 

"  24 :  14 56,  65,  280,  310,  409,  463,  508 

24:15-20 71 

24:21-22 232 

24:27 40,501 

24:30 31,275 

24:31-39 6,275 

24:36 48 

24:42 35,57,415,451 

24:46 202 

24:50-51 275 

25:  1-13 276,  415,  449,  451 

25:14-30 60,276,449 

25 :  31-46 244,  246,  252,  433 

25:46 183 

26:64 32,45,276,323 

Mark 8:38 276 

13:32 48 

13:33-37 277,415 

Luke 1:31-33 119,  193 

9:23-26 433 

12:32 324 

12:35-38...    ..277,452 


TEXTUAL  INDEX.  525 


PAGE. 

Luke 12:  38-40 57,  277 

"  14:14. 480,492,511 

*'  17:21 196,500 

17:28-30 277 

17:31 302 

17:34-36 278 

18:1-8 64,278 

19 :  12 57,  66,  278,  416,  450,  495 

19:13 35,199 

20:  34-38 91,  96,  107,  113,  480,  498 

21: 157 

21.  2431 60,  71,  227,  256,  417 

21:25-28 278,311 

21:34-36 278 

"  23:42 186 

John 1:51 279 

5:24 248 

5:28 94,96 

«  5:43 217 

6:39-40 101 

"  11:24-26 100,308 

14:3 618,30,279 

M  14,  15  and  16..  18,  207,  279 

18,36 199 

21:21-23 36,200,280 

Acts 1:7-8 206,  310,  410,  496 

"  1:11 7,19,41,280 

3:  17-21 7,  33, 110, 124,142,281,  315,  319,  a72, 397,417, 

431,  515 

"  10:42 243,244 

14:22 281 

«  15:  14-18 6,  89,  165,  208,  281,  410 

17:30-31 43,244 

24:25 244 

Romans  ...8:  11 482,492,494 

"  8:19-23 282 

"  8:22 106,110 

"  23: 167,319 

«'  11:1 227 

11:5 232 

11:12-15 123,239 

11:25-26 7,209,282 


526  TEXTUAL  INDEX, 


PAGE. 

Romans  ...13:  12 106,  200,  202,  221,  305,  312,  413,  420,  443 

14:10 248 

"  14:  17 195 

1  Corinth'ns  1:7 38,  419 

1:4-8 282,419 

4:5 282 

6:2-3 282,511 

11:26 283,412 

15: 81,315,496 

15 :  23 40,  70,  85, 102,  283, 307,  396, 480, 482,  486,  490r 

494,  512,  514 

15:25-26 168,511 

15:50 186 

15:54    104 

16:22    283,401 

2  Corinth'ns  1 :  14 283 

5:1-8 99 

5:10 247,283 

Galatians  ..1:  4_ 411 

4:25-26 135 

Ephesians..3:  21 166 

5:25-27 284 

Philippians  1 :  6-10 284,  435 

1:23.. 99 

2:16 284 

3:11 90,510 

3:20-21 284,419,445 

4:  5 284,  305,  420,  443 

4:7 443 

Colossians.l:23 457 

3:4-5 285,440 

1  Thessal'ns  1 :  9-10 35,  46,  285,  309,  419,  425,  447,  457 

2:19 40,285 

3 :  13 285,  304,  437,  447,  455,  488 

4:  14-18 7,  42,  43,  70,  83,  84,  99,  102,  104,  285,  308,  372 

419,  425,  486,  496 

5: 69,413,438,453 

5:23 286,304,448 

2  Thessal'ns  1:  7 38,  64,  258,  286,  372 

1:10 44 

2:  1-8 61,  69,  1G3,  216,  219,  258,  287,  312,  329,  357, 

372,  375,  398,  411,  481,  488 


TEXTUAL  INDEX.  527 


PAGE. 

2Tkessal'ns3:5 287 

1  Timothy.. 4:  1-3 211,287 

6:14 39,287,305,420 

2Timothy._3:  1 55,68,211,288 

4:  1 ..40,  93,  243,  288,  418 

4:8 6,288,419,454 

Titus  2:  11-15 40,  46,  283,  288,  419,  427,  429 

Hebrews... 9:  28 42,289,419 

10:25 305,420,443 

10 :  35-37 289,  305,  312,  438 

James 5:  7-8 40,  289,  305,  413,  420,  436,  443 

1  Peter 1:3-5 283,442 

1:7 38,289,443 

"  1:  11 105,  290 

1:  13 290 

4:5 243 

4:  7 201,  290,  305,  413,  420,  439 

4:13 38,290,441 

5:4 290 

2  Peter....1.!:  16 290 

1:21 317 

2:4-10 163 

3: 68,  291,  305,  310,  420,  439,  488 

3:11 46,419 

3:12 6 

3:13 Ill 

3:18 246 

1  John 2:18 68,  215,  305,  420 

2:22 357 

2:28 291 

3:  2,  3 46,  291,  303,  440 

4:3 215,357 

2John :7 .42,291 

Jude :  14-15 117, 162,  243,  258,  264,  291 

Revelations  1:3 443 

1 :  7 7,  45,  292,  320,  412 

"         2:25 292 

3:  8-11 292,  430,  431,  455 

11:  15-18  ....72,  320,418 
"         13: 215,357,372 

16:13-14 218 

16:15..       ..292 


528 


TEXTUAL  INDEX. 


Revelations  19: 163,  258,  292,  313,  318,  321,  357,  372,  375,  385, 

481,  489,  501,  507,  514 

20: 1-6 7,  51,  83,  88,  96,  265,  313,  318,  340,  898,  518 

20:  4-6 78,  479,  481,  482,  489,  491,  492,  496,  498,  509, 

512,  513 

20:6 107,321 

20 :  11-15 244,  255,  260,  498,  501 

21:1-5 111,501 

"         21:21-27 167 

22:1-5 167 

22:7 293,305,501 

"         22:12 293,455 

22 :  20 293,  305,  412,  443,  469 


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